L and J Updates

2012 Off To A Good Start.......

2012-01-30T10:28:00.017-05:00

I'm reading friend's blogs...(& for a great daily laugh, go here) I just have not been posting here much lately. I really NEED to replace my camera & then I think I'll become enthused to post more of our happenings. We are all good, healthy, & happy & really that's what matters most....

We've had a nice couple of busy weekends...birthday parties, Chinese New Year. The girls are both cheering for basketball right now.

Some Jan pictures to share

Jami lost her first & second tooth about 3 days apart, just before Christmas! So, for Christmas she really DID want her 2 front teeth...

A ride in her jeep.

Zipping by on her bike...

Such a tolerant Princess Kitty

We love you too.......
Maybe I'll get some CNY pics downloaded soon......

So Glad It's December

2011-12-06T13:11:00.006-05:00

I'm back........Sorry we have been AWOL for too long.

October was tough for us......what didn't happen?? A leak in the roof in the kids bathroom, new transmission needed in the car, Jami fell & broke her arm...& to top it all off, I lost my camera. Not only were we very Broke, but I am crushed about the camera.....

November we spent trying to heal & recuperate.

And now, it's December!!

Lindsi picked up an awesome Canon camera at a garage sale. She even let's me use it. The roof & the car are both repaired, although I'll be paying that car bill for quite awhile. The cast comes off Jami's arm tomorrow....
Things are definitely looking up for us now.

We were waiting for my parents at a restaurant along the river the on Sun night. Evening time & the natural lighting was just picture perfect. Here are some cute pics I took of the girls with Lindsi's new camera......

See? You've missed us, right??

Jane Brown Playshop

2011-09-26T14:08:00.005-04:00

We just had a Girl's Weekend that included a Jane Brown Playshop.

Our soccer season starts next Sat, so we will not be able to make the FCC Culture Camp this year. Fortunately, this Playshop was timed perfectly for us.

Jane Brown is a mother of 9. Many internationally adopted, & she has some bio children. She is a past elementary school teacher & a psychologist. She travels around the country & has several topics that she can theme her Playshops around. This was her 4th visit to the Jacksonville group & the theme was being Transracially adopted. The kids were divided into 2 groups K-3rd grade / 4th grade & older (most in the 9-10-11 age range).

On Fri night, the kids had childcare & in a Parents Only meeting Jane discussed her background & some of the areas that she would be talking to the kids about on Sat. She threw out a lot of ideas & things to think about. Ways to incorporate more culturally diverse people into your family life / daily routines & the importance of these racially diverse role models for our transracially adopted kids.

On Sat AM was the young kids playshop. The parents did the first activity with the kids & then left to go wait it out. The Playshop was approx 2.5 hrs long, then she came & did a debriefing for the parents (which lasted about 1 hr), while the kids stayed back & played. She talked a lot about what it meant to the kids to be adopted, how this might happen, what the outcomes might be. She gives them thinking steps, but does not plant ideas. They did alot of role playing with dolls & puppets. Each child getting a chance to "act" the part of the story (birth parents, SWI workers, adoptive parents). She also role played with them how to handle bullying or being signaled out for being different, or how to help a friend who was being singled out. She equipped them with some great tools.

With the older girls, parents dropped them off & then went to wait. Their session went a little longer. The best thing about this is that the girls broke into small groups & they had tasks to do & then they shared those things with each other. MY OPINION: I think even if you talk with your kids, you, as their parent, can not get them to be as open & as free in the thought exchange as they can be with their same adoptive background peers.
They shared in small groups such things as if you could ask your birthparents 3 things...what would they be? If you could tell your birth parents 3 things about you, what would that be? Then they dicussed those things within their big group. After their session, she did another debriefing with the parents. As a side note, I think there was only other family besides me, who had children in both age groups, & the discussion was naturally different each time. If the kids go off on a tangent, she lets them. It is THEIR time to share with each other & she is just a director & contributor of ideas, jumping off spots for discussion.

Neither of my girls talks much about their adoptions. I was a little nervous going into this that the Playshop might create angst where there is none. That was not the case. I think both girls came away with more information about their adoptions, with a better sense that there really are other kids just like me, (Unbelievably, with the younger group, JB explained that even though your kids might "know" that the other FCC friends are from China, they may not understand that those kids were also adopted, just like they were). I also think (& it is especially true in our case), that if your child has a visible SN, than that "Trumps" race issues (at least at the elementarty age). They don't necessarily feel different because of their race, they feel different & are much more asked about the difference their classmates & others can see.

However, I had read many positive comments about the Playshops, so we commited ourselves to attending. I'm really glad that we did. It was encouraging to learn of the things that I am doing right, in order to give my kids a healthy environment, as well as learn the areas where I can improve.

While I would not jump on the bandwagon to bring Jane to Gainesville. I don't think there is enough local support to justify the expense. I would whole heartedly encourage families with school aged children to take advantage of her playshops whether they are held in Jacksonville (in 2 more years), in Tampa or Orlando. Overall, very positive & we will go again if the occassion arises.

I thought that going to this with other girl friends was a great way to do it. Our kids already knew at least someone in the playgroup..plus we had the bonus of getting to hang out & visit all weekend long. An unexpected bonus came when we were able to swap kid watching duties throughout the weekend. That was really nice!!

If you have any specific questions, I can try and answer them for you. Maybe I'll have pics`to post shortly.....

Last of Summer

2011-08-17T10:18:00.007-04:00

We've been busy with Dance Camp & trips to the beach.

We are winding down the last of our care free, lazy morning days & trying to get back into a decent bedtime routine.

Dance classes are starting back up, soccer try outs are just around the corner.

Yesterday, we marked off our list the last BIG thing before Meet Your Teacher Day!!!

The girls decided they wanted to get their ears pierced. I always told them they could get them done whenever they felt ready. Lindsi's been talking about it for awhile. Jami was planning to put her's off until she turned 10. However, in the last few days, Jami changed her tune & when the time came, Even offered to go first.

They both opted for birthstones & of course, that means Diamonds (or the more affordable CZs) for Jami....

Lindsi got some pretty Emerald birth stones:

We finished the evening off with dinner at out local Ale House. Kids Eat Free on Tue, along with balloon art & face painting.

Pretty good way to end the summer break............

Weeks 4-5-6 Mountain Vacation

2011-07-22T10:19:00.037-04:00

Glorious vacation........We are home, but here is a summary of our beautiful mountain trip. We went with my siblings, their families, & my parents. It helps that we all get along very well. We rented this gorgeous 3 story cabin. It had a master bedroom on each floor & then various sleeping areas throughout.

Another great amenity was this outdoor covered sitting area with fireplace. Perfect spot to sit & read or visit until the mosquitoes came out around 7PM. The mountain air was beautiful. Mostly in the 80's.

We did a meal rotation, so each family only had to make a dinner every 4th night or so. Nice to be gone for a day out & come home to a home cooked meal.

Our first stop: Ocoee Rafting Center. This is where the white water events from the 1996 Olympics were held. We also picked up info on area hikes from here.
First scenic overlook....Boyd's Gap.

Ocoee Rafting Center

Leisure hike to a waterfall. RT 3.2 miles

A few streams to cross along the way. Here they opted for the log after Jami fell in trying to hop onto the rocks.....
Ahhh...made it, but those rocks were wet & slippery!

The next day my brother, nephew, the girls & I drove over to our old college ala mater...Berry. We had a very nice time visiting the campus. Doug & I enjoyed it alot more than the kids though......

Down the road from the cabin was a big orchard & country store. The kids liked checking out their in house bee hive. Interesting!
And we spent too much time checking out the "real" phone booth......

A day at Stone Mountain. Train, Mountain Top, CrossRoads Course, Laser Show. Very fun day. We LOVED everything there. I was so proud of Lindsi for doing the skywalk course. Lindsi loved the skywalk... Our littlest ones were not quite up for that, so I stayed below, with the full intent of taking the next turn. But, everyone was up there for so long, that we had to hurry if we wanted to go do the sky lift. Maybe next time I can do it too.

Atop the rock.....
With my sister.....

With my girls....

The cousins....

A visit with our Atlanta travel mates......
Lydia & Lindsi
The whole sibling group...

Celebrating a BIG Birthday for my sister....

A visit to the Cabbage patch

Amicola Falls
The girls & my Dad

Panning for Gold & Gems in Dahlonega, GA

Touring the old gold mine

Showing off our "Haul"

Cheering on John & Pam as they tackle white water rafting (I went earlier in the week, I just didn't have a photo crew following me...lol) or what they & their boat mates referred to as their own papparazzi.

Once they sailed out of sight, we went back to the cabin to enjoy the hot tub...
Lindsi says...Yowza..That is HOT!

Weeks 2 & 3.....

2011-07-04T09:28:00.008-04:00

Well, that went well......LOL....

We've been relaxing, cleaning house, swimming, visiting friends near & far & taking advantage of our free summer bowling.

On week #2, the girls both opted for short "do's"....since Jami had been promising me for months that she wanted hair as long as "Tangled", I was less encouraging of her to lop it all off. Also her hair grows SLOWER than anyone I know. Lindsi's will be long again by Christmas, no matter how short she cuts it now.

We visited with my longest BFF who was visiting the Orlando area with her family. I LOVE her so much. We can go a long time without seeing each other & then pick right up just like it was yesterday. I have traveled the most with her. She is such a blessing to me.

A few pics of the girls enjoying the afternoon in Orlando....

The girls attended VBS this past week, met some friends for Free Bowling, & alot of this:

The Weeks of Summer: Week 1

2011-06-20T09:46:00.016-04:00

I'm going to try & recap our summer week by week.......small goals, people...small goals...lol...

Our kick off to summer was GRADUATION:

Ian, my nephew graduated from 5th grade. He won several awards. He had straight A's through Elementary school. We are very proud of him. Yes...he graduated in a cast.

The 5 Musketeers......We are so lucky that these cousins are so close.

I love this picture of my dad & Ian......

My Kindergarten Graduate.

I don't think she was very excited about the whole thing though.....(grin)

Once school was out, we had my niece Emma for the week. My parents had invited us to go to Jellystone Park in Madison, FL with them for a few nights. We had a great time. The weekends are busy & holiday weekends, they are filled to capacity. However, we went midweek & practically had the place to ourselves.

The girls & Yogi.....

Wet & Wild Train Ride. They drive it through the large field sprinklers. It was fun!

60 FT Story Water Slide. One word = FAST!

Face Painting....

Paddle Boats...yeah, you guessed it. They lasted about 10 minutes before they wanted to go back to the slide.

We also had the dance recital, but I'll write that up in a separate post...... So far, a GREAT start to our summer!!!

Turn Around & She's 9.........

2011-05-17T10:26:00.009-04:00

Lindsi turned 9 yesterday...she is growing up so quickly

From This:
.

To This:

Over the weekend we went out of town to a friend's slumber party. Her mom is a single mom as well. We waited for our girls together (via an online single mom grp), & traveled a few weeks apart. Although our girls are from different parts of China, they are both tall & athletic. Her daughter turned 9 on Sat. So far, we've celebrated the girls birthdays together every year.

Happy Birthday Emily!

After the slumber party, we stopped at a newly transplanted (from NY) friend's house. It's always nice to see her. Our girls just meld together & enjoy each other's company & playtime a lot. They gave Lindsi an early birthday treat.

Lindsi opened some presents last night, we will go out to dinner tonight, & her party is this coming weekend.

Fun all week long!!

And,...what's a Springtime post without pics of the adorable kittens that are just about ready to find some new homes.....

April, Easter, & Kittens

2011-05-02T10:31:00.012-04:00

We have been enjoying the spring.

The kids are tanning & have been swimming since late March.

A few pics of our Easter.......

Our biggest spring fun though, are the kittens that the barn cats gifted us with in early April. The mama cat was born of a feral cat last spring. She & her sister stayed & they both had kittens this spring. 1 cat is more feral than the other & she hid her kittens (although we've recently seen 2). The other mama has nearly become domesticated (enough she'll let you pet her, but she won't hop into lap or allow you to pick her up). She had her 5(!!) kittens under the bush near the pool & then moved them right onto the back porch. We've handled her kittens enough, so that we will be able to find homes for them. They'll need homes in about 3-4 weeks.....anyone want a FREE KITTEN?????

Kittens at about 10 days old....

Kittens at 3.5 weeks:

Jami stays true to her early proclamation that she wants to be a vet & is pretty fearless when handling the kittens. Lindsi is a lot more skittish in handling them. She's the one who thought up the towel covering to keep protected from sharp kitty claws.em>

It's Super To Be 6 !!!!!

2011-04-18T08:29:00.012-04:00

I almost felt guilty sending the kids off to school early this AM, after the exhausting, birthday celebrating weekend we had. I bet the kids could have slept until 10.....EASY........

It started with a cupcake party at school. After months of ohhing & ahhing over the various offerings from the local grocery store bakeries & ice cream stores, when it came down to decide, Jami decided she would most like to help me make chocolate / chocolate chip cupcakes with cherries on top. So that's what we did....

On Saturday (her actual birthday), Lindsi had a school event & we had a lot running around to do. Jami picked a local Mexican restaurant for her birthday dinner (Mom, shesays, they make the best chicken fingers & french fries!!). Then it was back to home, where she opened her gifts from Lindsi & I....

On Sunday, it was off to church & then over to the bowling alley for a very fun birthday party. Between cousins, classmates, & friends, we had 14 bowlers. The kids had a great time. Jami was over the moon excited & could not help smiling all afternoon.

Even Ian (my nearly 11 yr old nephew) couldn't resist the bowling. Despite the fact that he BROKE his arm in 2 places at school on FRIDAY. They will see if the swelling is down enough to cast it today. It's a wonder what drugs can do!!!!

Then, it was over to my parent's house for some swimming & a cookout with family & out of town friends. We left about 9:30. Even though we live only a few miles away, Jami was sound asleep by the time we got home.

What a wonderful weekend we had celebrating our very special girl!!

Photo by Kris, but I couldn't help borrowing it....=)

A Spring Weekend

2011-04-14T08:36:00.011-04:00

Every spring, I take pictures of the girls in one of our area fields of wild flowers. Only this year, the flowers are just not FANTASTIC.... The fields are dull & not very plentiful. I'll keep my eyes out for some new, better spots...but my old faithful fields, are just disappointing this year.

My parents have some in one of their fields, so I thought I'd start there. However, Lindsi wasn't too much in the mood.....

If I'm being honest....before she walked off....she wanted to show me she was taking off her cochlear.......so there would be no chance of her hearing me calling her back...

Oh well, I still had a willing poser........=)

When I came back up to the house, I found HER, in a better mood.......

The barn cat had 5 kittens on Sunday....hoping to get some good pictures soon. She had them way under a group of bushes, so kind of hard to get back there. Here she is....

So far, my only shot of the kittens....2 grey, 2 black, 1 tiger.....

We have a birthday in our house on Saturday...so stay tuned for some fun weekend pictures!!

Spring Break has Sprung

2011-03-21T11:04:00.006-04:00

Ah....the girls are back in school & all is quiet around the house this morning, after our fun filled spring break week!!

No big vacation, but fun times.

The first day of spring break, we met up with our dear friend Miss E & her parents. We had promised Miss E a trip to Build A Bear for her birthday...which was in Jan!! It was a first for my girls too. Very enjoyable & a quick lunch afterwards with their new stuffed friends ended the day in grand fashion!

On Wednesday, we picked up another special friend & spent the day at the beach.........What Fun!!
Kiddie pool, Building sand castles (the girls even "won" tiny trophies for their efforts), jumping in the waves, looking for shells, playing on the playground. We ended the day with ice cream cones before driving home. The water was COLD, so only ankle deep wading on this trip.

We celebrated 3 family birthdays this week as well.

Fun times with our friends & family!!

Family Day #8

2011-02-23T12:21:00.011-05:00

Occasionally, it is fun to reminisce about how different my life was 8 years ago. I had a job that allowed me to travel at the drop of the hat. I was in a steady, realtionship with my boyfriend of a couple years. I was excitedly, anticipating, becoming a mom.

On this day 8 years ago, we started in Beijing. We had already spent several days touring in & around Beijing & we were now looking forward to our quick 2 hr flt to Nanchang, where we would get our babies that evening or the next morning.

SNOW! More importantly, flights in Beijing were becoming snowed in! We waited hours in the terminal before out flt for Nanchang was finally re scheduled to depart. It was an uneventful flight. Upon arrival, we gathered our luggage & piled into the vans that would take us to our hotel. Once in the van, our guide, David, told us that the babies were waiting for us at the hotel. We would have approx 15-20 min after check in to get our things together & then we should plan to meet in the conference room.

Whoa..after a long 14 month wait...we were now speeding towards the goal.

Meeting Lindsi was surreal. She never cried. She was full of laughs & giggles. She seemed absolutely delighted with everything going on around her. She was a Mama's girl from the first moment I held her. I'm glad I didn't have a crystal ball that day, or know everything we would face together in the coming year. It was a hard first year.

In the beginning, the resposibility was overwhelming. Once on my own with her, I remember thinking, OK, we've made it a whole afternoon, then a whole day, then a whole week, then a month, without any life threatening disasters.

Happy Family Day Lindsi!!!! Oh how we love you & are so very lucky to call you "ours"!

How do I Love Thee.....

2011-02-14T09:51:00.006-05:00

Admittedly, I think I have ONE of the best Mom jobs around. I say one, because I know several other moms who are raising absolutely AMAZING kids as well. It's easy to love on these 2. They soak it in & return it effortlessly every single day. Not every single moment...but every single day...

Recently, report cards came out. For the first time EVER, Lindsi had straight A's. I was / am so proud of her. She works so very hard. I'm happy that she will finally get to participate in the special honor roll celebrations.

Jami, also did very well, getting all E's (Excellent). While I see Jami learning, she's reading books aloud to me now & at the start of kindergarten, she could only read a handful of words. So far, she grasps everything easily & moves at a quick speed through her work. She's not seen "Challenging" yet.

So, as a reward for their achievement, I took them to see the Justin Beiber movie yesterday. It was better than I anticipated. We all liked it. I never could figure out the whole "Beiber Fever" phenomenon. After the movie, I can tell you, it's 10% natural talent, 20% hard work, 70% Marketing Genius. It should be required viewing for every marketing student. This is how you do it.

Beiber Movie on Sunday......

Ice cream on Sat....Yum

MMmmmmmm...Cherry...Her Favorite!

It's Valentine's Day...now...go....... spread the LOVE!!!!

Fun Times with our Friends......

2011-02-08T15:14:00.007-05:00

We had just an AWESOME weekend last week. I think primarily because we spent it UNHURRIEDLY with a lot of our friends. It was a very BUSY weekend. Thankfully, everyone was feeling well & in a GREAT mood.

On Fri, Lindsi & her friend took part in a Cheer leading Clinic put on by the FL Gator Cheerleaders. This is the second year we've participated. I couldn't talk Jami into doing it...maybe next year. Besides, I think Jami has figured it out that if Lindsi is off doing something, THEN she has MOM all to herself.......

Somehow, even though Jami did not participate, she managed to get into all of my pictures...lol...

On Sat AM, the girls cheered together at the morning game. Jami's coach was really sweet & let Lindsi be a "Guest" cheerleader.....I was too busy helping my Dad learn the ins & outs of his new Christmas camera & I took NO PICS of my own. I have to teach him to download them now.....=)

In the afternoon, we went to our FCC Chinese New Year celebration. So much fun, & a nice time to visit with many friends we had not seen for a little while...The highlight was Lindsi getting chosen to be the Dragon Head this year!!

Don't you love these shirts? they have 2 hugging Panda's & they say: Best Sister Ever... We've outgrown our Chinese silks, but this (I thought) was just a perfect alternative. Found them at The Child*rens Pl*ace $5 each.

And, On Sun, we went to a very special little friend's birthday party, that was held at the Natural History Museum. Lots of fun & different things to do there...

Fun Times...

Is it 2011 Already? Where have I been??!!

2011-01-20T12:45:00.007-05:00
Those of you who follow me on FB already know that 1 month ago today, I was having emergency major surgery. Surgery that has a recovery rate of 4-6 weeks. I was able to get myself up & out of bed in record time, but there are many aspects of the recovery process that just take time. I continue to feel better every week, but I still do not think I am at 100% recovery....yet.

I was so thankful that this happened over the holidays for many reasons. Primarily, my teen niece was able to come stay with my parents & help entertain the girls. Being the holidays, my parents avoided the stress of the school schedule, homework, or extra curricular activities. However, that meant they did have to entertain 2 active girls EVERY DAY. That's a big task if you are not accustomed to it.

The girls were thrilled that I got out of the hospital on Christmas afternoon. And, thrilled again when I got my driving privileges back just in time for cheer leading & dance to resume.

I've sort of been a SLUG lately. I went back to work 10 days post op (but only because I work from home & could nap as needed). Last week I had a sick child home with me all week. I still have to unpack our stuff that we got for Christmas....it's slow going. Thankfully, I don't stress over stuff like that...it will get done when it gets done.

I leave you with a few Christmas pics & the girls with their cheer leading activities. They both are enjoying the cheer leading a lot!!

First Time...Ever I Saw Your Face.....

2010-12-06T11:04:00.005-05:00
Five Years......Long time? Short time? It's hard to say. Some days it feels like yesterday & at others it seems like an eternity ago.

I can tell you that in the last 5 years, the face of Special Needs adoption from China has changed...ALOT!

In the fall, 5 years ago, I was just to the point where I felt that I was ready to start looking for my second child from China. I belonged to several agency Yahoo groups. I would wait, with countless others, for their " SN children lists" to come in & be made public. I would search through the children, hoping to find the child meant to be mine.

And so, one day in Sept, I was on the IAAP website. Oh..there was a DARLING little girl, coincidentally from the same SWI as Lindsi, with a need I felt very comfortable in accepting. My only hesitation was her age. She was almost 3...which put her much closer to Lindsi in age than I wanted. At that point, I knew Lindsi would be OK, in whatever shape that took, but I did not want to adopt another child who would surpass Lindsi's abilities within a matter of months. Lindsi was (& still does) work so hard, it just seemed unnecessarily unfair to create a rivalry where she would be at a disadvantage within months. But, this little girl had reached right out & grabbed my heart. Maybe it would be OK...maybe instead of a rivalry, the new child could encourage Lindsi in her skills.....maybe...maybe...maybe.
I wrestled with this age factor for several days. I finally convinced myself that this situation could work out. I would love to have her. That day, as I clicked to the site to get her file, the Words I HAVE A FAMILY greeted me next to her name. Deflation.....Oh.....had I taken too long? Was there still a chance her new family would decide not to pursue her adoption?

I called IAAP & expressed an interest in the little girl. That afternoon, or the next day, Cheryl called me back & told me that she did not think the family would falter in their adoption of her. We had a very nice, heart to heart talk about the child I thought I was looking for.

Weeks passed. A new list, at a different agency came out. I found a little girl, with a SN that I was heavily considering. She was BEAUTIFUL, & I was instantly smitten. Her file was already out, but I was next in line, in case the family passed. Within days, I learned that the family had passed & her file came to me. EXCITED! However, my review committee(my mom & SIL who are both nurses) noted large discrepancies within her file & urged me to return it. Knowing they had the medical degrees, & were only looking out for my best interest. I also passed on this beautiful child. Happily, the family behind me accepted her referral. That eased my mind considerably.

December rolled around & 5 years today, Cheryl from IAAP called. Are you still looking?, was her first question. When I said Yes...she said GREAT! We just got a new list & I think I have the perfect child for you right in front of me. It was a Thu & she was giving me until Mon to decide. If I returned her file, they would post her info on their site on Monday.

So, she sent me Rao Hong Yu's file. She was EVERYTHING I told Cheryl I wanted. A daughter, the age was right, the SN was right,...everything. My heart did not leap forward & recognize her (in all fairness it didn't with Lindsi either). It was more of a contemplative....so there you are....type of feeling. I was a little panicked...was I REALLY READY? In the end, since I had done ZERO paperwork at that point, I knew it would be 8-10 months before she was home. I knew by then that I would be MORE THAN READY. I also knew that it was only by God's grace that she was being offered to me. I was a single parent, who barely met the income requirements for a second child. It was God's hand that delivered her file to IAAP, & Cheryl's wonderful recall that put me in her mind when she saw the file. Was there really any way I could turn down this "perfect for us" child? I really did have to think about it, but when I called Cheryl on Mon AM..she said...You better be saying YES! And indeed, I was saying YES!!

Jami came home 10 months later & life has never been the same since. She is the child that is teaching me to be a parent. She is the FIRE in Firecracker. It is never dull with her around. She keeps me on my toes. She is a snuggling delight. She is not shy with her feelings...good or bad. Although, she can turn on the bashful switch in an instant. She is funny, creative, & smart.

5 years.....sometimes it feels like yesterday & at other times, it feels like forever ago........

Referral Picture

1 Yr old...waiting for Mom in China

Jami today.......

December Bullets

2010-12-03T08:52:00.003-05:00
We are BUSY! & I haven't been posting much. Here's what is happening in our little corner of the world lately:

- Over Thanksgiving Lindsi decided to pull her 2 wheel bike out & figure out how to ride it. The bike had TERRIBLE training wheels on it, which were causing more harm than good, so we took those off. She worked & worked & worked...by Fri PM she could ride the 2 wheeler by herself, down the drive (which is a country 100 yd driveway), turn it around & come back. Really proud of her. An elderly man at church, who we call Mr Harvey, bought that bike (brand new) for her 2 Christmases ago. I'm glad to see she is finely able to ride it. I MUST get some pics printed for him to have. About a yr ago, his children moved him back to CT, to be closer to them. He's a sweetheart of a man.

- This week I threw my nomination in for Mother of the Year. On most days, my kids ride the bus to & from school. On Tue, Lindsi stays after school for chorus rehearsal, so I pick up Jami & 30 min later, circle through & pick up Lindsi. Last Tue, there was no practice & this past Tue, there was practice, but I forgot. School gets out at 2:10, the bus gets here about 2:40. So on Tue, I was sitting on my porch waiting for the bus to come drop the kids off & my phone rang. It was the school. As soon as the Secretary said Ms Baugher.....my racing mind went Ought-oh. She told me that Jami would be waiting for me in the office. OK....
Driving there, my mind is imagining all kinds of scenarios. Of the 2 kids, Jami is the one much more likely to react in a dramatic fashion to having been forgotten at school. When I got there though, Jami was curled up, sleeping in a chair, & Lindsi was just getting out of her activity. I was so grateful. Jami just said.."Hey! I was the last one left in car line...." Whew.....
That was God giving me a break. On my way to the school I was pulled over for speeding...39 in a 35 mph zone. Sheesh! Got off with a warning.....another little break.

- I hope we will get our tree up & decorated this weekend!!!!!!! Pictures to follow....

Holiday Give Away

2010-11-09T12:39:00.003-05:00

Don't you love a Give Away? I sure do!!! If you do as well, hop on over to Stefanie's Blog & check out her 30 day Holiday Give aways!

Yea!!!!

Pumpkins...Friends...& Family....

2010-10-29T10:08:00.008-04:00
Every year our church has a pumpkin patch. We sell pumpkins as a fund raiser. We turn our little corner lot into a pumpkin Wonderland. It is the only pumpkin patch around town (pumpkins do not grow in our area very well) & it is BUSY!!

Our little church boasts a regular attendance of about 100. The average age of our congregation is close to 80!!! Therefore, the girls & I spend A LOT of time WORKING in the pumpkin patch through October. We see a lot of friends, teachers, community workers during our time in the patch.

Both my brother (& his family) & my sister (& her family) came up & worked weekends in the patch this year. It takes a tremendous effort to pull it off. But the rewards are priceless.....

Of course, there are pumpkins........

And, Spending time playing with our friends.....

Finally, there is time with our family........

I love pumpkin patch time........

Birthday Parties & The Drop Off

2010-09-28T10:22:00.004-04:00

I have a post percolating in my head about how the school year is going thus far. Overall, I'm really excited to see all resources that they are making available to the kids this year. We've been taking advantage of many of those things. The possibilities are quite`exciting.

We have been in birthday party overload. Since school started, we have had a birthday party to attend every weekend. With Jami in school now too, it's a new chapter regarding birthday parties.

In the past, most of the parties have been to were where the whole class was invited. The classes, for the most part, were the same group every year. You really get to know the other families that way. Up until this year, most parents stayed, Jami (the younger sibling) was a welcomed & expected guest. At the end of last year, I noticed an increasingly number of parents starting to drop kids off. This year, the school split up all of the previous classes, so everyone is meeting new sets of friends & families. There are (in the upper grades) no class parties & invitations are handed out discreetly or outside of school).

Our first birthday party this season was at a fun restaurant & even though it was a friend of Lindsi's, we have known this family a very long time & Jami was also invited. I stayed, along with a few other parents & family friends.

The second party was for a classmate of Jami's. It was at a gymnastic center. We have hosted a birthday party there before & I know it is all based on head count. This is a new crowd for us. There were some younger siblings there, but I dropped Lindsi with her grandparents that day, so I could take Jami & stay. Nearly all the parents stayed.

Our next party was for a friend of Lindsi's. An afternoon pool party. I thought, perfect.....I will drop Lindsi off & pick her up later. As the date drew near, & I advised Lindsi of my plans, there was a major panic on Lindsi's part. She can not hear when she's swimming, how is she going to communicate, please come mommy, please...please!! I know the mother, talked with her, & she was perfectly fine with me coming, staying, & bringing Jami. 2 other mothers' stayed, there were about 25 kids, so I found plenty to do, which eased my guilt for crashing the party & also helped the mom enjoy some of the festivities.

This week Lindsi has been invited to a slumber party. It is for one of her best friends. I'll have to drop her off, because I have somewhere else to be. I am almost positive though that Lindsi will NOT want to spend the night. Playdates for us are still pretty much adults visiting while the kids play.

Neither of my girls like to be left anywhere. I sit through dance classes & soccer practice (mostly because we live too far for me to drive back & forth). Many people tell me this time is coming to an end, but I really do not see it happening anytime soon.

It can be different

2010-09-13T10:28:00.006-04:00
I am now what I never wanted to be, feeling like an un-cool & old mom......

We went to a birthday party this weekend for a very good friend of Lindsi's. The little girl turned 8. Our 2 girls have been buddies for 5 years. For a long time, they were the only 2 deaf girls in their grade at school. They have both done outstanding with their cochlear implants. That is what they have in common. It's a HUGE thing for them.

We have done birthday parties & playdates with the girls over the years. But let's face it, I'm not sure her parents are yet 30, so I'm at least 15 years older than they are. There are definitely some generational differences. Basically, we're just different.

The birthday cake yesterday was interesting with side by side pictures. One was of Justin Beiber. I don't GET Justin Beiber, BUT I know who he is.

And the other side of the cake was this picture:

I completely felt like I SHOULD KNOW who this guy was.....but the fact that he was shirtless & on an 8 yr olds cake was completely messing with my mind.

As I re told this story later, a friend commented that it was probably one of the Vampire guys....she was right. It's Taylor Lautner. I know who he is as well. (does it matter that I DIDN'T know who he was until he started dating Taylor Swift.....that probably says a lot about me...lol) It was funny that none of the birthday hostesses wanted to cut the Taylor half of the cake.

My friend & I were talking about kids growing up so quickly.. I'm wondering now if I should feel bad that princesses are still more in vogue than vampires in our household. The girls want to listen to their VBS CDs over anything else.

It's an interesting journey, raising kids. There are clearly some right & wrong ways of doing things....but mostly....it's just different. The lesson is to embrace the difference. I'm really glad this family is in our circle of friends. Even if at times, it feels different.

Back to School

2010-08-26T21:42:00.007-04:00
I've been slow to download my photos. I promise my next post though will be a recap of our smallish summer adventures.

The girls started school this week. Lindsi started on Monday.....

She was thrilled to be back in the same class as her friend (& fellow CI user), Lexie. They went to preschool & kindergarten together, but have been in different classes ever since.

Lindsi drew a great a teacher this year. She seems very enthusiastic & not at all daunted to be teaching 2 (of the 3) deaf third graders. Yea!!!! The school is doing things a lot differently this year as well, & 1 thing is they have added another layer of resource in for the deaf & hoh students. I'm excited to have such great people supporting Lindsi in her education.

They do a stagger start kindergarten here, so Jami started on Wednesday, with about 4 other kids. Today, the whole class was there together. Jami talked about being nervous, but once she got into the classroom, she was really fine. After school all she could talk about was how great kindergarten was!! She also has an excellent teacher this year & in fact, the same teacher Lindsi had a few years ago.

It was a very rainy first day of school for both girls:

That ended like this:

I'd like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my first day in a very long time without kids...but I was so busy, the day completely vanished before I could even think about it.

I did get my car serviced, went grocery shopping, cleaned out the refrigerator, put all the groceries away, 2 loads of laundry, went to the dump, put gas in the car, picked up the kids, took them to Speech Therapy, came home for an hour, took Lindsi to ballet, came home, made dinner, did baths, read books, & we pretty much all went to bed.......so ended every one's first day back to school. I miss summer vacation already.....

A Little of This....A little of That.......

2010-07-29T13:05:00.004-04:00
It has been a pretty quiet, but relaxing summer at our house this year.

Last week Lindsi had an appointment with her ENT. He deemed her ears completely healthy at this time & said he did not need to see her for 2 years! Whoo-hoo! We had been visiting him more frequently this past year, because her Ped though she saw the start of an ear tumor. Looks like we dodged the bullet this time on that issue.

After our ENT appt we met up with our good friends K & E. E has been home from China for about 9 months. She has a form of spina bifida & uses a wheelchair. Does not slow her down at all! It was a fun play area / shopping / lunch visit with them. E's command of English is outstanding. I Loved it when she would spy something cute or colorful & say "Look at this one you guys, Look at this"!!!

We just got home from spending 5 days at the beach. AHHHHHH...relaxing. HOT & sunny, but fun to spend quality time swimming & playing with the girls. My niece joined us for the week, which always makes it more special. We LOVE our Sarah.

Jami found a crab

Silly Sarah.....=)

Ballet Anyone?

2010-07-06T08:09:00.004-04:00
Pictures from the ballet recital a few weeks ago. Lindsi danced two dances, Ballet & a 50's Jazz tune. She was also in the finale dance of "Thriller"...their tribute to MJ. Jami did a great job with her two dances, Ballet & a Tap song called Raggedy Ann.

Lindsi's declared that her favorite part was "All of it" & Jami said her favorite part was getting flowers at the end.......=)

We are taking a dance break this summer......

Enjoy....

A Little Graduation

2010-06-26T09:02:00.005-04:00
I'm getting caught up on my Blog posts......

Jami's Pre K had a full blown graduation. I know we will go through almost an identical program next year, when she graduates from Kindergarten.

So, there was the cap & gown, there were little songs about getting ready to go to school, there was a march across the stage, posing for pictures, a BIG cake. Overall, a fun afternoon where Jami got to be THE CENTER of attention. She was completely in her element.

It is a tad sad to think that in just a few months my baby will be off to kindergarten....until I think about my cousin who is the same age as I am, & HER BABY is off to college in the fall!!

Cousins (& a big sister) are the BEST.......

A Yummy Cake

Jami & Mom

Camping at the River

2010-06-25T10:12:00.005-04:00

In an effort to try & do something different & fun each week this summer this week we went with my sister & her family just up the road to Ichnetucknee State park. The High Springs are there.

We tent camped with them (they are an experienced boy scout family with all of the gear). My girls did incredibly well with the camping, considering all their previous camping experiences had been in a rather nice RV. In fact, the girls are all about us getting a tent now too. I'm just not sure how much tent camping I would really do with the girls by myself.

We went tubing down the river. That was so much fun. The water was cool (72 degrees), felt great & was so clear. We saw lots of turtles. Jami said her favorite part was getting OUT of the river. I don't believe her.

After the tubing, we went swimming in the Springs. COLD again. This was better for the big kids, because it was deep & the bottom was large, uneven, moss covered rock. For our new swimmers, a bit difficult to navigate. We hiked over to Blue Springs & my sister & BIL took turns swimming with the kids over the 50-60 ft cave in the water. With their goggles on they could see the fish. They loved that.

Something I would definitely do again. It was less than 2 hrs away.

Lindsi doing her part to set up camp....

Jami doing her part to carry the backpack to the river

All the kids getting ready to "Tube".....

Finally We Meet

2010-06-11T12:04:00.009-04:00
Finally, I can post about our most awesome weekend. After our most awesome weekend, I stopped at my sister's house for a visit, showed her our pictures & then left my camera behind......Bummer...but now I have it back, so all is good with my world.

There is something to be said about the online community. You are often brought together by shared & common interest. That's the case with Sandra & I. I can just about pin point the timing that I "met" her online, nearly 6 years ago. I can't remember the exact details though. I am most certain it was because we were living near parallel lives then, as we do today.

Back in 2003, both of us adopted baby girls from China's Non Special Needs program (but, not together). While in China, we both realized that our girls might have a hard time passing the medical exam & neither of us were approved for an SN adoption. Somehow, we both managed to get our babies to the US. Both girls were diagnosed as being deaf. Both girls now have cochlear implants. Both girls have worked hard & can function pretty well within a hearing environment. Both girls are successfully mainstreamed in school & are headed to the 3rd grade. Both girls have younger, hearing sisters adopted from China.

1000 miles away & yet, I cannot tell you how much support has been exchanged between the two of us over the years. It has always been comforting to know there was someone else who could say, I know exactly what you are feeling. Or we've faced that situation too, & here is what we've done. The girls have hit most of their milestones together.

This past weekend we all got to meet for the first time. They had planned a trip to Disney, which is pretty close to us & so we planned to meet at something we knew all the girls' would enjoy....Dinner with Cinderella.

Pre Dinner swimming & Fun......(All Star Movie Resort...WDW)

We had an excellent table, the food was great, the company...fantastic. The girls enjoyed seeing Cinderella, Prince Charming, the Step Sister's & Lady Tremaine. Prince Charming made a return visit & waltzed first with Lindsi, then with Jazzie.

Outside the Grand Floridian Hotel....WDW

Waltz lessons from The Prince himself.....

After dinner, we made our way back to the resort hotel so the girls could swim & we could visit. And, following the swimming, we went back to the room & the girls colored & played games until 11PM......

Beautiful Girls

Reviewing the Waltz

Hot Tub Cuties

Jami cried as we had to say goodbye. We are already scheming a plan to get together again next year..... If the texting between them is any indication, I think by next year all the girls will be old & fast friends.

Headed to Disney

2010-06-05T10:17:00.004-04:00
Headed to a fun weekend at Disney.....Hoping to have pictures for Monday....

We are having dinner with these special friends AND Cinderella! Can not wait for our girls to meet.

And we expect to spend a lot of good times at the pool!!!!!

Happy Birthday

2010-05-16T21:46:00.005-04:00
Happy birthday to the sweetest, most wonderfully awesome 8 yr old that I know!

Lindsi was excited about her special day. We lit the candles at church this morning. After church, I had planned to take the girls swimming, but they opted to hang around the house & play with some of Lindsi's new craft kits instead.

Tonight, she chose the local Chinese Buffet for dinner. I think she ate her 5 lbs of shrimp & 3 bowls of mandarin oranges. We stopped at the local ice cream place on the way home for mini sundaes.

Pretty low key birthday this year, but exactly what we needed......

From this (2003).......

To this (2007)......

To this...(2010)...Happy Birthday 8 yr old!

Spring Flowers

2010-04-27T10:52:00.004-04:00
Time for our annual flower pictures!

Enjoy!

How To Turn 5

2010-04-19T10:35:00.010-04:00
Jami turned 5 this week & she did it in perfect 5 year old style......

She wanted to bring cupcakes into school for her birthday. So, after looking at, and ohhhing & ahhing over bakery cakes & cupcakes for the last 6 months, Jami decided she would rather make them herself (REALLY!). So we went shopping for cupcake supplies & she picked chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

She spent the afternoon before her birthday making the cupcakes:

First you mix water, oil, egg, & cake mix.....I can do that all by myself..

Mom helped with the baking, but I can frost them myself.....I'm almost 5!!

So many dresses to choose from, but this is one of my most favorite, pretty dresses...perfect for celebrating my birthday at school.

So many pretty dresses, of course, I need a different one to go dinner. Preferably, a purple dress that matches my birthday crown.....

Out to a birthday dinner with my family.....

Perfect ending to a perfect day.....YUM!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUT NEWLY MINTED 5 YEAR OLD!!!!!!!! We LOVE you!!

Post #100 Happy Spring

2010-04-13T13:12:00.007-04:00
I would like to say that I haven't posted much lately because not much has been happening, but with 2 young kids running around, that's not really true. There actually has been A LOT going on around here. We are just around the corner from celebrating both girls' birthdays, so I'm sure I'll have plenty to Blog about then.....=)

Until that time...here's what's been going on in our little world:

- I hit something...pothole? Branch? & flattened 2 tires....they needed to be replaced.

- Discovered that BOTH Lindsi's cochlear implant processors needed to be replaced, due to wear & tear on the units. That's about $1000, but LUCKILY, looks like our Health Insurance (that we only have until my co switches to a new one on May 1) is going to upgrade her. Waiting to see what the payment on that might be. I'd looked at the upgrade when it came out last summer, but it cost $8000. Sorry, Chickie...

- Today, we have no water. I can hear my pump running, but nothing is coming up out of the well. SIGH.........

- One of these months we're going to get break!

Onto better news...
- The girls enjoyed the zoo over Spring Break. They also got to spend a lot of fun time with their cousins.

- Trying to decide what we are going to do this summer.........it will most likely be a hodgepodge of little experiences.

- My brother, brother in law, & nephew are gearing up to hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail this summer. They leave Approx June 10 for 1 month. They will be hiking the Southern end, going North as far as they can.

Enjoy the East pics (finally).....

The girls with their cousin Sarah. We all LOVE Sarah......=)

My mother made both of the girl's Easter dresses this year. Didn't they come out nice? The girls' picked out the material, I picked the pattern, & Mom sewed them up.

The World of Why

2010-03-07T21:36:00.004-05:00

I just LOVE that I have another chance to experience a 4 yr old. When Lindsi was this age, she hardly had any language & she did not go through some of the more "typical" stages that Jami FULLY LIVES.

Jami has a fantastic, analytical mind. Here are the GREAT questions from this week:

- WHY is "1" a NUMBER and not a LETTER?

- WHO decided that Curious George should be the type of monkey without a tail?

- Does Fire fly?...me: No.....The sun is made of fire though, right? Me: Yes... Jami: well, if fire doesn't fly...how does the sun stay up in the sky??????

She's a thinker & a dreamer & more dramatic than almost any other 4 yr old that I know. Wow! Do we love her! And we are so thankful that we got to be her family.

AMAZING

2010-02-23T09:25:00.009-05:00

Do you have a child that the same adjective gets applied to over & over & over again? I know that I have met some children & been struck with a one word description....that child is so BUSY, or what a CURIOUS mind, an OLD soul, a SWEET spirit.....

My 7 year old is that type of child. Nearly everyone she meets, people at church, parents of friends, her medical team, family, all seem to remark on how AMAZING she is. I have to agree, I think she's pretty amazing as well.

But, I was wondering WHY exactly is she decribed this way? I looked up the word AMAZING: To be filled with wonder and awe.

That doesn't really describe Lindsi. So, I looked up the word WONDER: To be AFFECTED by the EXTRAORDINARY....ahhh That's it. If you meet Lindsi, you are AFFECTED by her. She is Extraordinary.

Even from the very first day that I met her, she was different from all the other babies. There were 10 very upset & crying babies, & Lindsi, who sat on a nannies lap & took it all in. When she was handed to me, it was the Hallmark moment, she broke into a huge grin & never looked back. It's a true story, that others in our travel group would stop by our room & visit with her, while they were having to walk the halls with their own unsettled children. Nothing upset her.

It would take me all day to list the ways in which I have been affected by her extraordinariness. She is unlike any child I have ever known. I call her the perfect compliment to this sometimes scatterbrained, single mom. She is organized to the max. She is observant. Creative. She can learn how to do things by just seeing it a few times. She is helpful in so many ways. A delight. Although, she is not perfect, and must occassionally slip into the role of a 7 yr old girl. I think she does that just to keep me on my toes.

My heart explodes when I think of all the possibilities that lie before her in this life. She has achieved so much already, she's learned how to work hard for things. I can't wait to see what life has in store for her.

Martina McBride sings a song that says...."Everyone calls you Amazing, I just call you mine...." So beautiful, so true.

Happy 7th Family Day.....We are so lucky to blessed by your spirit each & everyday. It is only by God's infinite grace that I am her mother today. I would have never been open to parenting a child with her SN (deafness) when I adopted her. We have both come such a long way.......

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jami's been short changed on the Blog lately, so my next post will be all about her...=) Stay tuned for some Jami Cuteness......

No More Blanket

2010-02-10T11:08:00.006-05:00

I've often wondered how many wash cloths the White Swan lost over the years to families with newly adopted children? After hearing story after story of how the babies would cling onto a wash cloth, it's a wonder the Coming Home Barbie didn't come wrapped in one.

Our family, was no exception. From the very first day that I had Lindsi, she would fall asleep, thumb in her mouth, running the silk tag of a wash cloth through her fingers. We soon replaced the wash cloth with a hooded towel & for several years, that served as her "Blankie". It has always been a background item, a source of comfort. As Lindsi got older, there were rules about the blanket....it could go into the DR office, but not to school. Eventually, it spent more & more time in my bag & then, in the car. Always within reach, & needed most often when the "tireds" crept in.

A few years ago, the hooded towel was retired & a Gym*Bor*ee blanket became the "Blankie". It has gone everywhere with us.... It's the first thing she grabs when she gets in the car or comes home from school. It's such a part of her, that she has never forgotten or lost it somewhere along the way. She always knows where it is.

However, as it is with much loved items, The "Blankie" has definitely seen better days. Grandma has repaired it several times. This past weekend, (horror) the silky tag fell off...................

At which point, Lindsi held up her beloved blankie & announced....I don't need this anymore & put it away. I haven't seen the blanket since Sunday.

I'm really proud of her. Having suffered a blanket trauma when I was a kid, I was just never going to be the parent that could come between the blanket & the child. I expected it to be with her when she went off to college.

She is growing up in so many ways.

In fact, I'm pretty sure, at this point...I'm missing the blanket much more than she is.

Ballet

2010-02-02T10:40:00.004-05:00
The girls' are starting to work hard on their routines for the Spring Recital. Last night was a Parent's watch night.

Enjoy some pics of Lindsi in her ballet class.......

Day At The Zoo

2010-01-27T09:54:00.011-05:00
The girls had a 4 day weekend (Teacher In Service & End of the grading period). I was able to take one of the afternoons off, so we went down to our favorite zoo in Tampa. I love that zoo...it is never crowded during the weekday afternoons..especially once the school field trips are gone.

They have several Kiddie Rides & that's where my girls love to spend their time. We are "forced" to see the Giraffes, elephants, & zebras, because we pass them to get to the camel rides.

Family Annual Zoo Pass $100
Unlimited Ride Cards $ 45
An afternoon of fun Priceless

Jami's favorite...the Merry Go Round....I think we rode it 8 times. And yet, she'll still need to stand in a line at Disney to ride the carousel there as well....

Jami has a sudden love for horses. She usually won't ride the zoo ponies, but rode them 4 times on Friday.

Our zoo trips feel incomplete if we don't ride the camels. It's almost embarrassing that the camel handler actually recognizes us as "regulars".

I think its funny that Lindsi's biggest stress at the zoo is that she not be the ONLY kid on the roller coaster. She'll ride in a car by herself, but she won't ride the coaster if she's the only one. On Friday she rode the roller coaster 10 times.

A stationary ride.

A new ride! The girls rode the train 3 times before they were lucky enough to snag the conductor box. Then, Jami went back & rode it 2 more times.

We love feeding the Lorikeets

Hurry Mom..before he bites my fingers!

January Birthday Celebrations

2010-01-21T10:22:00.010-05:00
If you read her blog, then you already know where we spent last Sat.

We were so honored to help Ellis Mei Mei celebrate her first birthday at home. Now she's 4....just like Jami!!

Here are a few pictures that I like from the day:

This last picture was from a second birthday party we attended on Sat night!!

Baby It's COLD Outside

2010-01-11T10:27:00.005-05:00
It feels self indulgent to write about how COLD it has been in Florida lately. Esspecially when I talk to friends who live in Boston & are under 2 ft of snow or my work colleagues in Chicago with their delightful 10 belows....but BRRRRRRR it has been SO COLD here in Central Fl this last week.

My fruit trees have been wrapped in blankets for OVER A WEEK now. I hope they survive. In a usual winter, I only have to wrap them 4-6 times. Our temps this time of year are usually 45 (low) to 72. Our highs right now have barely met 40. This morning it was 18!! Plumbers are doing a booming business repairing cracked pipes. Mine froze, but didn't break...(Yea!!)

I think part of the BRRRRR problem is that Floridians are ill prepared for the cold. We don't have winter coats....our power companies struggle to keep up with the demand for heat. We are heat people.

So, if you can bear with me as we struggle through these COLD days, I promise to offer some compassion when our friends to the North start complaining when it hits 90degrees where they live this summer.

Enjoy our pics of Florida "snow"......

A Year In Pictures 2009

2010-01-02T08:24:00.017-05:00
Cold (it is currently 34 degrees) & rainy New Year's here. Hopefully the rain will clear out. No big complaint though. We spent yesterday making a big pot of stew and cookies. We also reorganized some clutter areas in the house. Happy to get those jobs done. They are continued eye sores & now, hopefully, or at least temporarily...eliminated!

I now present the second annual favorite pics from the past year!

Jan

This picture taken by Kris

FEB

My girls with their new friend Emme

MAR

APR

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG
Bowling with cousins, Emma

SEPT

OCT

Couldn't wait to meet this new friend, Ellis Mei_Mei

NOV

DEC

Have a wonderful 2010..from our house to yours'.

2009-12-24T09:51:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2009-12-19T12:25:00.005-05:00
The girls were recently modeling their Christmas dresses. It looks like the holiday is rushing in at warp speed. For the first year EVER, I'm going into Christmas week with my shopping not finished & NOTHING has been wrapped yet!!

However, I REFUSE to become overwhelmed by it all. I like to enjoy the feeling of Christmas, smell cookies fresh from the oven, visit with friends......what gets done, gets done. What doesn't..doesn't.......

Hope you can enjoy the holiday season......

Tropical Thanksgiving

2009-12-01T21:47:00.007-05:00
We spent a lovely, long, Thanksgiving holiday in the Florida Keys last week. The weather was great 70-80.....
We toured a dolphin training facility & the girls loved seeing the dolphins up close, especially the 4 day old baby.

The sunsets were great, food was wonderful, beaches...sandy & warm.

Hope everyone else had a delightful holiday......

A Florida Iguana

A mama & her baby

Waiting for the beautiful Fl Key sunset

Last evening at the beach

A fun spot in Key West

A Thanksgiving Day Swim.....

Ladies & Gentlemen....I do believe we have a candidate for the Christmas card photo submission......

WE are THANKFUL!!!!

Just Because

2009-11-21T20:44:00.004-05:00
I never posted the Halloween costume pictures.....

Lindsi stuck true to her wish to be Hannah Montana....Jami changed her mind from a witch to Snow White at the last minute.......

And, here we are with Thanksgiving just around the corner. Jami's class had their Thanksgiving dinner this past week. It was all very good & entertaining......I do wish I could keep Jami from calling the Indians...."Aliens"..though....
As in One Little...Two Little, Three Little Aliens........

Gift Ideas

2009-11-12T10:19:00.002-05:00
Stefanie has asked for great gift ideas.

Since I have little eyes that read my blog, I can't go into detail of what is actually coming to our house this year, but I can tell you about a GREAT gift idea for the 10 & up crowd.

We have a couple of Michael P Keaton wannabees in our family. This is the perfect site for them:

WWW.KIVA.ORG

For as little as $25, you can become a dream maker. This is a company that allows you to make loans to people in need. You read profiles of very small businesses & you decide who you want to loan to & how much you want to give. You can break the profiles down into countries (mostly 3rd world), people (men, woman, families), type of busines (textiles, farming, merchant).

KIVA has a 98% return on their loans. You pick the person you are going to help & then they send you updated reports on their progress. In the loan bio, it tells how quickly they expect to repay the loan. You can fund all or part of a loan request. The best part is, you can keep your account growing & loan the money out time after time.

It not only teaches kids about the power of money, but gives them a great feeling of helping & of being in control, by allowing them to choose whom they help.

I'm not affiliated with KIVA, but I have purchased gift certificates from them for the past several years. And, it doesn't add clutter to the toy room which is a HUGE Plus in my books!!

Pumpkins, Jack-O-Lanterns, and a Little Trick or Treat

2009-11-05T13:58:00.006-05:00
Falling behind on my blog.

Last Friday there was no school, so we carved our pumpkins. Hot weather here means the pumpkins last about 48 hours after being carved. We had to throw them out by Monday!!!

Warm October day....so NOT a day for getting into the season....Record breaking October heat!

Not sure if you can tell that this is Snow white & a Cinderella Castle...no ordinary pumpkins at our house...lol!

A few more pumpkin patch pics.....

Hopefully, some trick or treat pics to follow shortly!!

A Gavin-ism

2009-10-26T09:16:00.004-04:00
Related to me by my sister this weekend.

Her 7 yr old son stated to her recently, "Wow! Have you noticed how well Lindsi's speech has gotten lately? But, her hearing is still pretty bad!".........

Thanks for noticing Gavin........=)

Love,
Aunt Debby

Pumpkin Patch with Family & Friends

2009-10-19T13:45:00.012-04:00
On Sunday we were working at the Pumpkin Patch. Just about everyone in town stops by at some point. It's a great place to see old friends. The first person I saw was a cousin who now lives in SC..surprise! Then my sister & her family stopped by on their way home from a camping trip:

Cousins are so much fun!!!

The rest of the afternoon was a great visit with Mei Mei. The girls, well, Lindsi, my big sister extraordinaire, just loved being around Mei Mei. Lindsi especially, would love to be the big sister to a tribe. Jami is happy with our family as it is. Since Jami is my baby, it's hard to see how grown up she is becoming. Then you take pictures like this & see how much difference 1 year makes.

I can't help but think how richly blessed both Kris & I are by these girls.....

After lots of visiting, the girls picked out a couple of pumpkins for school & for home.

Not this batch....pretty though, right??

We're taking home this load!

The day pretty much ended like this for all of us....only Jami beat us to it.

Fall is here & a Trip to a little zoo

2009-10-19T10:58:00.010-04:00
Finally fall has come to Central FL. After record breaking Oct temps in the 90's last week, we have new record breaking temps, nights in the 40's this week. Ahhh....

Off with the A/C, on with the heat...lol.....

On Sat we went to a birthday party held at a local college zoo. We unexpectedly got to meet HER(who was there for a completely different reason), Wow! what a pleasant surprise!

The birthday party was fun, the zoo educational, even when the guide got bit by the snake she was showing the kids. I was IMPRESSED! If I'd ever been holding the snake (which, you'd have to pay me alot to do), & it bit me, I'm quite sure I would have dropped it.......sadly to say, even among the the crowd of 3-7 yr olds. That's why I'm not a zoo guide....=)

It looks like Lindsi didn't want to touch the turtle, but I caught her just as she finished petting it & pulled her hand away.

Surprisingly, Jami pet everything they had to offer.....

Lindsi took all the zoo animal pictures.....

A fun day

I'm Growing Some.....

2009-10-12T10:35:00.010-04:00
Last week Lindsi had her 7 yr old check up. She measured in at 51+ inches tall, 87% on the US charts. That's down from her previous height percentage of 95%...but I could see that where she used to be one of the tallest kids in her class, a few of them have caught up to her now, so I wasn't surprised.. She weighed in at 58 lbs..about 75% for weight. She is long & lean...nearly all muscle.

This summer, I started to notice that Lindsi's chest area was changing. She noticed it too, as she proudly announced to her Grandpa one day..."Look, Grandpa...I'm growing some"...My dad innocently answered..."What are you growing?"......She proudly puffed out her chest & answered "Boobs!".....Which took my poor dad a moment to recover from....And she was more than excited to find in her cousins hand me down clothing bag, a few stretchy girl bras. She wore them for about a week & then put them in the bottom of her drawer.

I was mildly concerned. But, she was showing no other signs of growing up, so I didn't know what to make of her new, no longer exactly flat, chest shape.

So, I asked her Ped to take a look. She did.....hmmmmm..."Does Lindsi play sports?" she asked. I told her that she danced twice a week & swims a great deal.....
Her Dr turned to me & said....."What I see are some mighty nice, pectoral muscles. Great definition....but no onset of puberty." I think I said.."GREAT!"

I've been laughing at myself ever since. I was truly relieved that she was not entering puberty early & instead she's just got a great toned & muscular frame, including some great pecs that I'm sure are the envy of a few.

No School Monday

2009-09-30T09:02:00.007-04:00
Monday was a teacher workday...no school for the girls. I took the day off & we went down to visit the FL Aquarium. We have zoo passes & in Sept they have reciprocal member agreements, so the trip to the Aquarium was free......Love That.

It's a very nice Aquarium. On a Monday, schoolday for that area, it was not crowded at all, which was a HUGE plus.

The other big attraction at the Aquarium is the outdoor Splash Pad. We spent about 2 hrs having a fun time out there....

Lost & Found

2009-09-22T10:57:00.007-04:00

Lindsi's cochlear looks just like this....with a 6" cable that runs to a disc magnet, which sticks on her head. She wears it everyday. When she was younger, I used to have a ribbon around the cable that dropped down & was pinned to her shirt. That way, at age 3 or 4, if her CI fell off her head, it wasn't lost.

Last year, she got too old for such things.

She is EXTREMELY responsible & careful with her hearing equipment.

So, you can imagine my surprise yesterday afternoon when I got a call from Lindsi's teacher telling me they had lost the CI. YIKES.....My first thought was...I hope they didn't lose it on the PE field. My second thought was....how did it get lost??

Well, at the end of the day, some kids were stacking chairs & packing up their things to go home. As Lindsi lifted her chair, it brushed her CI, knocking it off her head. Did it fall to the ground? Did it "stick" to something? Did it fall into the pile of backpacks close by? They looked for as long as they could before kids needed to get to car lines, busses, aftercare. Then, her teacher, along with 3 or 4 others went back to class and searched. I was actaully relieved that they had it narrowed down to the room. But, it was no where to be found.

About 10 minutes after the first call, I called Lindsi's teacher back to make sure she put a sign out for the cleaning crew NOT to clean until we got there this AM to look some more. When the school secretary answered, she said Ms B..Mrs R just called & she found something of Lindsi's in A's backpack. She 's bringing it right over!!! YIPPEEE!!! I was so relieved that I could greet Lindsi at the bus stop with the great news.

So, I piled the kids in the car & drove to the school to pick her cochlear up. It was at the front desk all lovingly wrapped in several layers of tissue. A note subsequently from the mom said her son was absolutely dumbfounded on how it ended up in HIS backpack.

This morning at school, no less than 20 people stopped us to ask if it had been found yet.

We are thankful that:
- Teachers care to go the extra mile looking for lost items.
- Parents check backpacks when kids get home.
- The school "village" all expressed concern about the missing CI.

I'm going to get A a certificate for a Free ice cream cone. He's unwittingly become an innocent player in our missing CI game........

Sept 20, 2006

2009-09-20T22:45:00.011-04:00
Three years ago today I was doing this:

Within a week, I was seeing this:

And now, I have this:

Happy 3rd Family Day Jami!!! We are so lucky to have you.

Memorable moments in my trip to get Jami:
- Our plane flt from Detroit to Tokyo.....it took off on time. It flew 5 hrs to the North Pole. Then, it developed a hydraulic leak & the pilot thought it best to return to Detroit. So, we basically took a 10 hr flight to no where. When we got ready to land in Detroit, we were on an isolated run way......fire trucks & emergency vehicles were standing by & we were instructed on how to assume the "crash" landing position. Fortunately, we landed without incident. We deplaned (it was now past midnight)...they gave us each an overnight kit & bussed us to a local hotel. Free room, free meals, & a bus ride back to the terminal at noon the next day.

- Because of that delay....we were delayed by 1 day until we reached Nanchang. We missed our actual Gotcha Day. 10 min after we checked in, our guide showed up, ready to go to Civil Affairs. When I adopted Lindsi in 2003, our flt from Beijing to Nanchang was delayed because of bad weather. When we landed, We got the news that our babies were at the hotel waiting for us. I had about 10 min that time to get ready as well. I guess I'm just a mom who experiences Fast labors.

- When I met Jami, her nanny pretty much handed her over & disappeared from site, although I knew she was on the same floor & just around the corner. Jami was not a happy camper. The next day we went to sign all of the papers. Jami was still not a happy camper & her nanny tried to be scarce. I could tell it was killing the nanny though to see Jami so unhappy & upset. We ended up all riding down in the elevator together. I let the nanny hug & kiss on Jami one last time, & then she & the asst dir walked quickly down the street & around the corner. As I climbed into the van, I happened to glance back & I saw the nanny sobbing into the asst dir arms. You never know & it's one of the biggest reasons why I send pictures of Jami back to the SWI 3-4 times a year. I've had some very sweet replies from them too.

- On the morning we were leaving to go to GZ, we went to pick up Jami's passports. Another family was with us. Their daughter's passport was at the counter, but it was determined that Jami's passport was unwittingly left locked in the safe, of the region directors locked office, who was away from the province at a business conference. It was Fri...he was due back mid week. We had the last consulate appt before everything shut down for the trade fair. Our guide sent us back to the hotel & told us to pack for our flt to GZ...she would stay there & either meet us at the hotel or meet us`at the airport. 10 min before we were to leave for the airport, Jenny ran in with a passport for Jami. They'd had to pull so many strings & fortunately, everything is done in email. It basically amounted to pulling a congressman out of a session meeting to forward an e mail he was copied on back to the local office in Nanchang, so they could create a new passport. It was a MIRACLE that we got out of Nanchang in time.

The rest of the trip was relaxing after all of that......

My friend Blog Lori will be meeting her new daughter this week. Follow along.

The Last Sigh of Summer

2009-09-14T09:53:00.004-04:00
We've spent the last 2 weekends enjoying our days at the beach. This was likely our last trip over until next May or so.....

Jami went this summer from wearing wings & inner tubes to being so comfortable in the water that if something is floating in the deep end..."No problem Mom, I'll get it.." & in she jumps. I still worry she'll get too winded when she's out in the middle of the pool, but I also know she knows how to get to the side. And, I do think Lindsi occasionally forgets how little she is & plays too roughly with her, in the deep end.

Overall though....fun times!

Celebrating Sarah's Labor Day birthday.....

Pretty Beach Girls.......

Look! A Rainbow!!

Families in the Making

2009-09-09T12:15:00.004-04:00
Two of my very dear, single, friends are both on their way to China today to meet their new daughters on Monday! It has been such a very long wait for both, but especially for Kris.

They've both posted today & they are not out of the country yet (I think that's funny)!!

Two adorable girls about to meet some amazing moms. I am thrilled & excited for all. I hope their travels & transitions go smoothly. I wish for them happiness that can not be contained, memories etched into their hearts, and love overflowing.

Join them on their journeys......
Laurie is going to get Hannah, a beautiful little 14 month old.
Kris (& Garth) are meeting Ellis, an incredibly special 3.5 yr old.

We can't wait to meet the newly formed families. I wish I was there.......

How Jami Came To Us.......

2009-08-27T10:32:00.009-04:00
Even before I went to China to adopt Lindsi in 2003, I knew I would want to go again.

For Lindsi, my dossier went to China, just before the singles quota was implemented in Dec 2001. So, I knew I would need to get in a long line to adopt from China a second time. About a month after coming home with Lindsi, I put in my application to adopt from China again, this was nothing more than a place holder until my name came to the top of the list.

Then one thing led to another, Lindsi needed so much attention health wise in her first year home. She qualified for OT, PT, and speech. She was in the hospital for a severe case of RSV. She had ear tubes. She had booth tests about every 6 weeks to try & chart her hearing, or lack thereof. We were both learning ASL. She had an ABR & the next week, we moved across the country from CA to FL.

We lived with my parents for awhile (about a yr), while I got situated with new therapists, new preschools, new audiologists, pediatrician, ENT. She had her cochlear surgery & we were hit with 2 hurricanes. It was a busy few years.

In that time, my name came to the top of the singles list 3 times & each time, I would tell them to please put me back at the bottom, it wasn't a good time for me yet. I was so fully concentrated on catching Lindsi up, that I did not have the time or resources to give to another child. The desire was still there, but it had taken a backseat to her needs. I needed to feel that Lindsi was at a place where my attention on her could be divided, that she didn't need me quite as much.

After Lindsi had been home about 2.5 yrs...fall of 2005, I started to feel like she was on a good track. She'd had her cochlear for a yr. She was making good & steady progress with it. We had our own home by then. I could finally dust off those thoughts of returning to China. Something in me as a parent had changed though. We had been through a lot & I saw that we were actually doing OK. I no longer wanted a NSN child from China. I would have missed so much if I had not been chosen to be Lindsi's mother. I felt I actually COULD handle a second child with some needs. I knew my second daughter was a waiting child.

I started to look at various agency's waiting children list. I had my mind set on what I was looking for.....not unlike a lot of people, I wanted a girl, under 2, with a minor need. The very first child I looked at, hooked my heart. She was even from Lindsi's SWI. Her need was minor. But, she was nearly 3. I hesitated, not because 3 was "so old", BUT because I did not want my girls that close together in age. Misplaced loyalty or not, if Lindsi ever needed to repeat a grade in school, I did not want her to have to compete in school directly with a sibling, so I wanted / NEEDED them to be at least 2 years apart. By the time I talked myself out of that need, she had a family. She was with IAAP & I talked with Cheryl a great deal about our family & the child I was looking for.

A few weeks later, on a different agency list, I found another little girl. Younger, with limb difference, which was my #1 SN choice. She was BEAUTIFUL. Just wonderful. A family had her file & passed on her, so it came to me. After reviewing her file, it was evident that the limb difference, her stated need, was only the tip of the iceberg. She had a lot of needs & my counselors (my family) implored me to really consider her needs in addition to what I already had on my plate. I ended up passing the file on, but the next family who reviewed her, accepted her. That felt good.

Those were the only 2 children I really considered, until early Dec when Cheryl at IAAP emailed me. She said she had a new list & had a file she wanted to send me. The child was everything we discussed I needed. She was giving me 4 days to review the file & if I accepted her, then she would not be placed on the web site. If I passed, they would post her on Mon. Fair enough, I thought. So Cheryl sent me the file. I opened it...there was a cute, little girl. 8 months old..YOUNG! with a need so minor, an extra toe, it could hardly be considered a need at all. I could not believe the blessing. Here I was, a single mom, barely meeting the income req to go again, & I was being offered THIS child?? I knew that if she was posted, she would be claimed in microseconds. It was a huge Yes! I smile at God's ironic sense of humor. When I didn't want anything, but a NSN child, I was blessed with Lindsi & all her needs. When I opened myself up to a SN child, I was blessed with Jami & all of her non-needs.

This all comes to mind now, because Jami is the exact age that Lindsi was when I went to China to get her sister. My family often remarks that since I came home from China with Jami that I seem more settled & complete. I feel like my chicks are gathered. There is no more restlessness of someone missing.

Sure, every once in awhile the girls talk about having more sisters here at home. If I'd been married, with more finances, I'm pretty sure the family would be bigger. However, to God's glory, He laid the desires on my heart & He opened the doors when it was time to go. And then He contented me with what I had. Such a blessing, & I'm so very thankful for both girls.

These pictures were taken the night I got back from China & introduced Lindsi to her new sister.

Best friends & sisters today....

Back To School

2009-08-25T10:40:00.007-04:00
The girls started school yesterday.

The preparations have been in the works for weeks & nearly everyday Lindsi checks to see if I have posted about our back to school preparations. Of course, I'm a procrastinator, so the answer is usually No...not yet......

Jami is going to VPK (half day Fl funded (so, free to me...yippee) pre Kindergarten). Even though her old 2 AM a week school offered the program, I decided to put her at a center much closer to my house. I'm LOVING that the drive is so close now. She did well yesterday & was happy to go off to school again today. She is ready for this on multiple levels.

Lindsi is in 2nd grade, has a great teacher, & found all the work (review) they did yesterday to be really EASY!!!

I am LOVING the quiet mornings so far. I have a list of projects that I want to tackle, so far the list is still long...lol.....

So, to please Lindsi.....here are our school preps....

First day of school for the girls.....Out the door.....

A Day At The Zoo

2009-08-14T11:14:00.008-04:00
We visited the zoo one day during summer break. The girls LOVE the zoo, but it can be HOT!!!

Lindsi on her horse.....

Lindsi on the Flying Banana

The only ride Jami truly LOVES....the stroller

The cooling off station

Look Mom! A fake turtle!!!

The giraffe that nearly ate the cochlear.......Hello Med-El.....Our Cochlear seems to have been quite tasty to the Giraffe......Can we get a replacement??

The camel, who wasn't nearly as hungry as the giraffe.....

Jami's second favorite ride!

A Fun Thing To Do

2009-08-10T09:45:00.006-04:00
My friend, Sandra had this on her Blog. It looks like a fun thing to do. After reading the list, I realized that the things I haven't done, are mostly by choice. I'll STAR the items still on my "Bucket List"......

It made me realize how fortunate my life has been thus far.

Here are the rules:
Bold the things you’ve done and post this list on your blog then leave me a comment and tell me you did this I can go see!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Written something that was published
11. Bungee jumped or parachuted
12. Walked across the Golden Gate Bridge
13. Been in a fist fight
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Seen the Rings of Saturn with a telescope
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when not ill
24. Built a tree house or snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Fired a gun...if you count a BB gun
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise**
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person**
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied**
38. Visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke!
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal
44. Visited Africa**
45. Cried yourself to sleep
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Visited the Eiffel Tower
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Pretended you cooked something from scratch when you didn't.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie or commercial
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business**
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold something door to door
62. Gone whale or dolphin watching
64. Donated blood, marrow, etc
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter**
69. Held onto a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten frog legs or caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Time Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job....Laid off...Yes.....Fired...No
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Done something illegal
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Sang a solo
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Climbed a mountain**
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had surgery
89. Directly saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury**
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club**
93. Seen a loved one die
94. Given birth to a baby
95. Visited the Alamo
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Sent a text message while driving
99. Been stung by a bee

Enjoying Summer

2009-07-27T09:22:00.005-04:00
I've been lazy about the Blog so far this summer. A big result of not downloading my camera often enough. We've been on the go alot. Mostly swimming & visiting with friends & family.

One of our local restaurants has Kids Night Tue. Tue is not a normal night for us to go out, but I've heard great things about what they do on Tue & Kids Eat Free, so I treated the girls to an evening out. They had clowns, balloons, face painting & DESSERT!!

The girls can not wait to go back!! For those of you in our area, it is at the Ale House. They always have Kids Night Tue.

Jami getting her hand butterfly.....

Lindsi in the Makeup Chair

The Results....

Lindsi's eye teared up from the makeup before the paint set....oh well...I think she still looked cute.

One of these is not like the others........

Summer Fun! St Augustine Style

2009-07-14T23:04:00.008-04:00
Every summer (for the past 4 years)we have joined a few other families for a beach weekend in St Augustine. We each have a Fu (from Fuzhou, Jiangxi), & as coincidences have it, each Fu now has a younger sister. Our Fus are now ages 7-9.

One family was in our travel grp, & we adopted our Fus together.

So, if you have a Fu & want to join us next summer, let me know!!!!

We met this bloggy friend while in St Augustine. Since then, she's become a Mommy....please go check out her adorable Hannah!!

And, my other very good friend is having an awesome raffle in her site to raise the remaining funds to travel & get her daughter. Check out her amazing give aways!!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Effects of the Economy

2009-07-04T09:00:00.003-04:00
This economy is rough...
And, although I know there are many, many families struggling to keep afloat, this week it gained a face for me.
A fellow single mom, with 4 kiddos from China lost her home on July 1. Next week, she'll be laid off from her job. They have a tent & that's home for now.
Face it...she has a long uphill battle if things don't get even worse from here. I so wish I had a huge bank account to draw from, savings for a rainy day, because my friend is in a hurricane.
Please offer up a prayer of hope for her family & others who are on the brink of disaster.

Kayla update.....She's doing great! She was moved from Shands to an intensove rehab facility in Jacksonville about 2 weeks ago. She is rehabbing her speech & gross motor skills. Yea!!!

Our Summer So Far

2009-06-23T10:26:00.011-04:00

Can't believe we are already into our THIRD week of summer break!!!

So far we've had the dance recital....both girls did a really fantastic job. I could feel my chest swelling with pride as I watched Lindsi do her very graceful ballet dance to the theme of Beauty & The Beast. She is just a beautiful & elegant dancer.

This was Jami's first recital. There were 6 little Ladybug dancers in Jami's class. Sad to say, 4 of them just FROZE when they hit the stage. That left the two leaders, Jami & Kelsea to dance the routine. Although at that age...they are all such cuties to watch!!

Jami has completed 2 weeks of swim lessons:

We enjoyed a day at the lake. Lindsi was a tube riding fool....enjoyed the jet ski too....

Last week my niece stayed with us for several days. Then on Sat we took her home for her 5th birthday psuedo slumber party! All the girls came in PJs, but only we stayed the night. My sister had "Big" sisters there in charge of nail paintings & all the girls designed their own sleep masks. Very Cute!

Misunderstandings

2009-06-11T08:44:00.002-04:00
So, this was our car conversation on Tue as I drove the girls to dance class...

First, as we were leaving the house I was trying to call our friend BILL, to see if I should get him a ticket to the recital. So, Lindsi asked me who I was calling & I said BILL.
At the same time, walking out to the car, Jami is twirling & pirouetting, pretending to be BELLE.
Lindsi asked Jami what she was doing...here's the exchange:
Lindsi: Jami, what are you doing?
J: I'm dancing like BELLE.
L: You can't be BILL, he's a boy....you're a girl.
J: I'm BELLE...
L: But He's a boy....you can't be BILL...
After about 3 rounds of this discussion, I decide it is not going to settle itself & it quickly approaching the "are / "are not stage"...I fingerspell to Lindsi the difference in the words.

L: Oh.....I didn't hear the sounds right.

Immediately after I settle that, Jami let's out a big sigh & says....I'm FRUSTRATED.

Lindsi..perking up: WHAT?!
J: I'm FRUSTRATED
L: No you're not
J: Yes, I am
L: You're not even in Pre School...you can't be a FIRST GRADER
J: I'm Fru-strate-ted
L: Mom...J can't be a first grader yet.

Again...back to finger spelling (while I'm driving) so Lindsi can see the difference.

L: Oh...I not hear the sounds right again....

Mom: You think?? Probably time for a new MAP (adjustment to the CI)

I try to have compassion for crazy drivers because sometimes you just don't want to know what else they are dealing with when they drive....=)

2009-06-08T08:03:00.003-04:00

I feel like I've been neglecting my wee one on the Blog lately. I guess Lindsi's just had a lot happening lately, & Jami has remained my steadfast buddy & companion.

In many ways, the girls are very similar in personality, they both are very girlie (Jami will only wear dresses), love to play, love their mama, are a little shy. I have often thought that Jami has a stronger personality than she often shows. Don't get me wrong, I have seen the stubborn, willful, frustrated side of her personality many times, but I do think she holds a lot of herself back & acts little sisterish, when I know she has it in her to be more bold. I'm hoping as Lindsi gains more self confidence & becomes more outgoing, Jami will show it too. Maybe.......

Jami recently had her 4 yr old checkup. She measured 38.75" & 30 lbs. 25% for both height & weight on the 4 yr old charts. She also had to get 4 shots...OUCH! She was so brave though & only cried a tiny bit with the last one. (I had warned her ahead of time that she would be getting shots).

She's home with me all summer this year, but will start VPK (Voluntary Pre K) in the fall, 5 mornings a week. She's also taking swim lessons this summer. She seems to remember quite a bit from last year, so that's good.

The girls' dance recital is on Friday. More pics then...but here's a peek at Jami's costume. Although, her main complaint is that she wants to have a "Pretty" costume like Lindsi's....not a CUTE one!!

Pretty or cute...either way, I can hardly get enough of this little lady.

An Update & A Peek

2009-06-02T15:26:00.005-04:00
Thank you all so much for the concerns & prayers for Lindsi's classmate Kayla. She is doing so much BETTER!!!!
She is awake & alert & off the ventilator now. She is still in ICU, but SO MUCH BETTER than she was on Sat. We are still praying for a full recovery. Everyone would love for her to be cancer free & back in the class with her friends by fall. Wouldn't that be great??!!

Here's a peek at Lindsi's ballet costume for next week.......
Can you guess the song they will dance to?

Finally, please check out my friend Lori's blog today. They are doing a raffle to raise the rest of the funds to bring home their beautiful (older) daughter. I just LOVE it when the older kids find a home. If you read through her blog, you might like to know that her younger daughter, Lucy, is from Lindsi's hometown, Fuzhou!

Did you guess the theme from Beauty & The Beast????? Doesn't she make a beautiful Belle??

A Jumble of Thoughts

2009-05-29T12:51:00.007-04:00
We are so very busy as the school year comes down to its final days....
This week, the first graders had (very original) First Grade Day!!! Many outdoor fun water games, relay races, watermelon bingo, & kitemaking stations to visit. Yesterday, they had a field trip to the local park & lunch brought in by McDonald's. Today, they kids made a parent appreciation breakfast. All too much fun...
Next week they have three half days & get out for the summer on Wed afternoon. Everyone is beyond ready!!

The girls have their dance recital in 2 weeks. Practices seem to be going well....That should be fun.

One of Lindsi's classmates, Kayla, has a cancerous brain tumor. She was diagnosed with it about this time last year. She has gone through 2 rounds of chemo, but there was no change to the tumor. The Drs told her parents that it was inoperable & that she had about 15 months to live. That was in March. One surgeon stepped forward & said that he had 1 (ONE!) patient with a similar tumor as Kayla's, that he did operate & the child has been cancer free for a few years. It's an extremely risky operation. Kayla's parents had her scheduled for surgery on June 15.
All of a sudden, they hastily moved up the surgery & she had it on Tue. She survived the surgery!! The DR thinks they got it all. She is the first child EVER recorded to have the type of tumor she had, in the location that she had. She has not woken up yet, but is responding to voices & commands (squeeze my hand type of directions). The Drs think it could take a few days up to a month for her to "wake" up, but are hopeful that she is on her way to making a full recovery. Our thoughts & prayers are with her & her family. Really makes you stop & think about all the blessings in our lives.
UPDATED.....Kayla coded twice yesterday. She's on a ventilator & no longer responding to sounds. The DR have downgraded their hopeful for a full recovery to guarded, but still hopeful. I'm sick about it.

It is Super to be 7!!!

2009-05-18T07:54:00.010-04:00

Friday afternoon I brought treats in to Lindsi's class to celebrate her birthday. Then, after school, we drove down to Ft Wilderness (at WDW) for a weekend of camping & birthday celebrating. We met up with my parents (& Jami). My sister & her kids drove over for the evening. After supper, we walked over to the BIG campfire & did a sing along & met Chip & Dale.

They also show a movie, but since we had a big day planned for Sat, we decided to call it an evening. Lindsi's CI batteries died just before the sing along started. I was so glad I could just leave the girls there (with my family) & run back to get some more. Oh..the perils of being a single parent.

On Sat, we headed to a breakfast at Chef Mickey's. The girls enjoyed it. For us, the Princess breakfasts are #1. We have also enjoyed lunch at the Crystal Palace with Pooh & Friends. This was good, but of the 3, was probably third on our particular list of favorites. They enjoyed it. Although this was the trip that Lindsi finally "got" that they are really people dressed as big characters.

Because it was Lindsi's actual birthday, she had a free day at Disney. We opted for Hollywood Studios. We had not been there before. It was less crowded, lots of air conditioning, & we only had half a day to spend at the park. We actually saw everything we wanted to....Beauty & The Beast Show, Little Mermaid Show, Muppet Show, Honey I Shrunk The Kids Playground, Block Party Parade, & saw several characters. We can mark that one off our list now. Lindsi got several Happy Birthday buttons to wear & absolutely EVERYONE at WDW made a huge deal out of it being her birthday. It was great fun for her. After a quick dinner at the camper, we went down to watch the boat parade & fireworks show.

On Sunday we went to the pool, Lindsi & her cousins rode & rode & rode down the water slide. We went downtown Disney & played in the water area there as well. We visited the Lego Center, the Toy Store, & the new Dinosaur Store. We went to the Disney store & so absolutely true to form, Lindsi chose an art set & Jami picked out Cinderella shoes with their Disney dollars.

A fun & exhausting weekend!!!!!! Happy Birthday Sweetie!!!

Spring Flowers

2009-05-15T10:50:00.005-04:00
Every spring since we've lived here (so, for the past 5 yrs), I have taken pictures of first Lindsi & now both girls in our area wild flowers. This year has been so dry, that I thought the flowers were never going to come into their full color.

On Mother's Day, the girls were dressed nice & we decided to just go ahead & pick our flowers & do our annual pictures. They came out pretty nice, afterall...despite the drought.

Guess I need to change the sidebar photos now to the newest......

Enjoy
Make a Smilebox slideshow
,m m,k

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T08:39:00.007-04:00
Lindsi's 1st grade class put on a play & "tea" last week at school. It was really cute. Her teacher divided the class in to thirds. The first group did the introduction, the second group read the parts & the third group acted / signed the reading parts.

I think the play was called Is That My Nest? It was about a cricket getting ready for the red bird & she went around letting all of the other animals know the red bird was coming. Each animal offered her home to the bird, but none was quite right. Then they all worked together to build a nest for the red bird as a present. Lindsi acted out the red bird part.

It was very cute! The kids did a great job.
Acting debut

The actors

The Red Birds (Reader & actor)

Cutest audience member....=) Enjoying after play brunch

Just a Bunch of Stuff.......

2009-04-28T10:23:00.007-04:00
Miscellaneous Nuggets.......

Jami had a wonderful birthday. I haven't posted anymore pics because I've not downloaded any yet!! With my parents help, we are really stressing how grown up 4 yr olds can be. Up until recently, Jami could still be counted on to throw unprovoked tantrums at her whim. They are really tired related, but they could happen if she was in need of a nap, was woken from a nap, or was just post nap. That girl takes awhile to become civil.

And, she is known for loudly shouting her disdain of everyone or ANYONE who rubs her the wrong way. That not only includes those of us with more frequent opportunities (like mom, sissy, & grandparents), but extends to friends, fellow church goers, service people, or anyone who might happen to stop & comment on her cuteness when she's in a "MOOD". It can be pretty embarrassing. We have told her that 4 yr olds do NOT do that. I tell her it is OK not to like someone, but those are things you tell mommy in private. She always has permission to tell someone to stop doing whatever is bothering her, but she shouldn't say "I don't like you!" quite as liberally as she does now. The great news is, there have been some wonderful improvements in this area with her.

Truthfully, her moods are becoming more evened out & she seems happy & delightful more often than not. Folks closest to us have just learned to give Jami a little room before engaging her.

Lindsi is doing well. We recently had her IEP for next year's placement. It was recommended that she stay with her top tier class. I thought we could be borderline there, but her teacher has a lot of confidence in her abilities & I'm relieved she won't need to re start again socially. When Lindsi entered the 1st grade, her overall language level was 4 years / 7 months. This school year, she has JUMPED 2 years in language. She recently tested at 6 yrs / 7 months, which put her about 4 months behind her chronological age. She works so hard. I am always proud of her accomplishments.

These next few weeks we are really trying to rack up the rest of her AR (Accelerated Reader) points. She has 42, but needs 50 within the next 3 weeks to be able to participate with (the majority of) the class in a day at the park. She, truthfully, could care less. I care about it. I did not sweat it when she missed the midyear pizza party. The park trip is in conjunction with the 2nd grade class that she is moving up to. "I" want her assumed 2nd grade teacher to meet her in that environment, with the rest of the class. So for the next few weeks I'm driving her to school so she can spend some extra time in the library taking AR tests. And, we are pushing the reading of AR books at home too. When I mentioned this to some of the other class parents, they gave me all sorts of hints & methods to achieve our goal. I'm pretty sure we can do it. Without my help though, it would have been really hard, as she can only check out one book a day & the AR points are .5 each book.

Goodbye 3....Hello 4!!

2009-04-16T15:29:00.002-04:00

She's officially 4 today!! Yea!!! Such a grown up girl now. We will do a little family celebration after dance class this evening & then she has a smallish (3 friends + siblings, cousins, & sister) party at CEC on Sun.

More pics later.......

It Was A Happy Easter

2009-04-14T12:09:00.004-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Trying something new. We had an enjoyable Easter.........Let's see if this works!!
Tell me if you like the slideshow or just pictures posted instead........
I'm really wanting to get my picyures & short videos onto DVDs, so the girls can enjoy them whenever they want on the TV. So, I'm experimenting (with what little time I have) with different formats. Suggestions welcome.
I usually use Snapfish. They have just started a slideshow format, but there is no way to put it to DVD right now.....yet.......

Our Spring Break.....

2009-04-07T11:21:00.007-04:00

Our spring break has come & gone......

I really love having both girls home & doing things with them...but NOTHING gets done in my house while they are both here. I'm going to have to figure out a workable solution by summer time. It's a juggling act to actually work from home & keep them sufficiently entertained. I love summer helpers (tween girls from church & my niece...when she isn't playing soccer).

We did a few playdates, but our big treat was a trip to the zoo. We used to go a lot when Lindsi was younger, because we had an annual pass & the zoo was very close to one of her weekly therapy offices. We quit going there soon after Jami came home. So, it was really Jami's first memorable trip to the zoo (which she insists on calling The Jungle).

Enjoy.......

This week we have Dr appts, speech, & IEP meeting.......I guess the break is really over.

Saturday fun with PBS

2009-04-01T07:50:00.005-04:00
Last Sat, our local library in conjunction with the local PBS station brought in Curiou* Georg*. They also set up science & recycle stations within the library for families to enjoy. I think they expected a couple hundred & my guess is there was between 700-1000 people there! They did organize it pretty well & as long as you could stand in line patiently, it was quite fun once you got into the first room.

The girls knew we were going to CG...but I don't think they (or me for that matter) knew exactly what to expect. They were pleasantly pleased when they saw him.
The first activity we did was making your own little tomato pots completely out of newspaper. If you don't use tape to hold it together, it will compost entirely. The secret is adding you dirt immediately...=) And, we got a free package of seeds.
Next the girls tried a water experiment where you "push" drops of water across a tray by "wind" blowing through a straw. They enjoyed that activity & racing each other.
And they had a station where you could inspect top soil. Also a station where you could bury & retrieve objects in very fine sand.
Overall, a fun time.

What a week

2009-03-26T07:34:00.003-04:00

What a terribly sad week it has been so far for a couple of very close friends....and it's not over yet.

I work for a small company. As is common in our industry, we have a lot of nepotism going around. We have brothers working with brothers, father & sons, husbands & wives who all work for our small company. It really does feel like family.

In Jan, one of our employees was in HI working on a job. He suddenly took ill & was put in the hospital. One complication led to another & after a few weeks he was finally able to return home. Since then, he's been through lots of medical tests. After marrow tests looked clear for cancer, they did find lymphoma in his spinal fluid. They started him on treatment, but his body responded badly & last week they put him into a drug induced coma. Yesterday, he died. He was 51 & leaves behind his wife (who also works with us) & two school aged daughters. Farewell Mark...you are going to be sorely missed by everyone.

Across the seas a very dear friend & her husband are in China meeting their second daughter. Only, things were not right with the baby & they made the agonizing decision yesterday not to proceed with her adoption. They are devastated. The blessing is that they are traveling with their agency director & she has supported & provided counsel to them through this. We are waiting now to hear what will happen next. Incredibly sad. I'm so glad to have avoided that first hand pain, but it is painful to be a bystander as well.

And, a very dear man from our church is in his last days. He has had cancer of the jaw. This is the second person I have known well, with this, & it has not been good either time. In fact, it's awful. Praying for peace for Ed & his family.

A Day Trip to Shands

2009-03-17T07:52:00.008-04:00
About once a year we make a trip up to the Univ hospital & I schedule all of the girls appts on the same day, so we can take the day & do back to back appts. (We go up there more often to see our Audiologist, but this day we see her + the others we need to check in with annually).

We started with our Audiologist. They checked out the mappings on Lindsi's cochlear, did some fine adjustments. They tested & fixed her FM system from school. Lindsi had a booth test. We explored options for a cable that can fit into an Ipo* Su**le (#1 gift request on Lindsi's May birthday list). All went well there. Our audiologist is 8 months pregnant with her first baby.

Next, we went to lunch. Lindsi had about 100 questions about Dr G's baby. Was it growing in her? How was it going to get out? What did it eat? Would she need a DR to help get it out? Would she cry? HOW did it get in there??!! Delightful restaurant lunch time conversation. My mom was with us & fully enjoyed the show.

After lunch we went to see our ENT. A regular check up. The PA cleaned Lindsi's ears. On the un implanted side she pulled out a piece of matter that was easily twice the size of a pencil eraser. YUCK! That's the ear that she routinely gets her infections. Of course, once that was out & she could see, what she saw was a very ugly ear infection underneath, & behind the drum. The good thing is, Lindsi is asymptomatic, no fevers, no tenderness, nothing, as it effects her ears. The bad thing is, Lindsi is asymptomatic...no indications of the infection. I usually do not know she has one until it starts draining. This time, the plug was holding it all in.
She was put on antibiotic drops & we need to set up a series of recurring ear checks with our local Ped. If the ear infections become continuous, she may have to have surgery to correct a problem with that ear. Fortunately, for now, they have contained themselves to that ear, but it could easily cross over to the implanted ear & we really do not want that to happen.

After that great news we went to the ENT Audiologist & had new swim ear plugs custom made for Lindsi. I also picked up a pair of Doc Pros for Jami. So, we should be set for summer swims now. I'm excited because apparently they now make the custom plugs out of material that will float. In the past, if it popped out, it immediately went down to the drain.

Is It Springtime Yet??

2009-03-09T10:19:00.003-04:00
A nice weekend to put out some spring flowers.....

Starting with the old flower bed. Pulling all the weeds out & getting ready to put fresh soil into the bed.

Placing the plants just so.....

Add some water......

The finished product

A few extras to go into their planter pots....

The last picture cracks me up. All afternoon they kept bickering about whose turn it was to dig & whose turn it was to water & which plants belonged to whom, & who got to choose first where to place their plants...ARRGGG....Then, at the end, OK..one last picture..perfect sisterly harmony when the camera comes out.

A Picture Game

2009-02-23T09:27:00.005-05:00
My friend Jen tagged me for this cute little picture game.....

***Rules***
1. Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.
2. Go to the 6th Folder and then pick the 6th Picture.
3. Post it on your blog and tell the story that goes with the picture.
4. Tag 5 other glorious peoples to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog telling them about it.

I guess it is sort of appropriate that the picture that fits the rules is this one. After my previous post on meeting Lindsi. The next picture folder holds the pictures of meeting Jami.
This is when I am seeing Jami for the first time...Sept 2006, at the SWI office in Nanchang.
We were actually supposed to meet her the day before, but because our flight was delayed (it's a common theme that runs through my adoptions, apparently), I missed our scheduled adoption day & met her a day later.
Unlike Lindsi's group, it was just us. And Jami was older. And a lot less happy about the prospect of leaving her nanny to join me.
I was blessed twice though & so happy & grateful to have a second wonderful daughter from China.

Let's enjoy the photos of these 5 friends.....

Shirley At Family is Forever
Amy at For Such A Time As This
Val at (Drivvel Supp
Amy & Amelia at Cherishing The Chunster
Kim At Laughter, Love, & Lily

6 Years....A Mom

2009-02-23T08:23:00.005-05:00
Can it already have been 6 years........Yes, I guess so.

6 years ago today we had just spent 3 VERY COLD days touring Beijing. It snowed while we were at the Great Wall. I had hoped to climb to the nearest tower, but it was very slippery covered in a mixture of snow & ice, so we didn't climb that far.

On our visit to the Temple of Heaven, it was SO COLD...our guide took pity on our group & asked if we would like to stop in and visit a tea shop. We all quickly agreed, (to get out of the cold more than anything). The girls at the tea shop did an impromptu tea ceremony & taught us a lot about their history of teas, the function of tea. It was such an unexpected and memorable opportunity. I wish I had bought a tea set there. As it happened, I didn't buy a tea set at all on my first trip. But, made sure I bought one for each daughter on trip #2!

Our plan was to fly from Beijing to Nanchang, go to the hotel, & then be united with our babies that evening. Well, snow & ice kept the planes grounded in Beijing for HOURS. We were many hours late leaving Beijing & we figured we would probably meet our babies the next day.

After we landed in Nanchang & were in the van on the way to the hotel, our guide said, We will get to the hotel, check in, & in 15 min, meet at the conference room, because the babies are already at the hotel!!!!! Needless to say, we checked in as fast as we could & grabbed all of our necessary things & then waited for the time we could go down to the 14th floor. The hotel had an inner atrium & you could look over the balcony to the floors below. We were all gathered where we could see (& HEAR) the babies & nannies being led into the conference room...they were about 3 floors below us!

We finally went down to the room, but we had to wait outside the doors until they were ready for us. Just writing this, I can still feel that incredible nervous excitement & tension. They let us in & there sat 7 babies, all bundled up in the same color snowsuits. All within 3 weeks of age of each other. Most of the babies looking rather similar. One baby, with a ton of hair & rosy red cheeks, looked more like a little Eskimo. I snapped a few photos of her because she was so different & more unique looking than the others. Then, I searched for Lindsi. I really had no idea which baby she was. I went down to the far side of the table, looking at each baby, trying to find a resemblance to the referral photos I had stared at for weeks.

When I walked back down to the one with the rosy red cheeks, the nanny waved at me, pointed to the baby & started nodding yes! this one is yours! WHAT??!!! That beautiful baby at 10 months is the seem Mr Magoo picture I had seen 6 weeks earlier!! Are you kidding me??!!!

I went over to meet her. Yep, sure enough, her badge matched my info. Then we were asked to go back to the other side of the table as they called each family by name to present the baby. Out of 7, we were the second or third family called & then it's a blur what else went on in the room. I only had eyes for my girl.

We went over, showed our paperwork, the SWI signed off their paperwork, & a smiling Fu Lin Da was handed to me. She was curious & happy. And, mostly, she has stayed that way for the last 6 years.

She never cried & we were able to stay in the conference room (nearly all the other babies went back to their rooms) & welcome the 4 additional babies who came from another SWI. My friend & fellow single mom was in that group & I'm so glad we were there to witness Ella joining her family.

The first year was our hardest. Not because of Lindsi, but because I was unprepared for some of Lindsi's undiagnosed special needs. However, I could never have dreamed up a daughter as wonderful as the one I was blessed with.

Thank you for making me one proud & happy Mom. I love you!

If You Have a Minute......

2009-02-19T13:21:00.003-05:00
If you have a chance to offer up a prayer of comfort today, please keep this family in your thoughts.

They could use whatever solace you can offer.

This is one incredibly brave child. One loving family trying get through the best that they can. Sadly, I'm sure this happens everyday...............

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lydialimeieikomiyashita

Have your tissues handy.........

A Recap of Valentine's Day

2009-02-19T09:02:00.005-05:00
Belated Happy Valentine's Day........
Lindsi made this Valentine Box for me. She wrapped the bottom & top separately, as well as lined the bottom & sides inside the box & then had to cut an opening in the top to slide the valentines in. She said that was the hard part....=) She's so creative.

Jami is working really hard on writing her name & MOM...(Lindsi filled in the rest)
Lindsi wrote Jami's name at the top (just in case you were wondering).

From Lindsi.....yep...it was also my birthday. We celedbrated in style. We went to a classmates birthday party at the skating rink. Then we went out to dinner with my parents. Lindsi gave me a pretty pair of heart earrings & Jami gave me some yummy chocolates.

More WDW Pics

2009-02-13T08:08:00.005-05:00
We were going to have dinner with our friends Lisa & Emme (& Lisa's mom) on Thu, but we just had trouble coordinating our plans. SO...we ended up grabbing dinner ourselves & then visiting for a few hours in their hotel room.

Isn't this the MOST CONTAGIOUS smile??

The Three Amigos

Laughing Together All Night

Lindsi's big sister instincts really kicked into high gear with Emme. In the character parade at the restaurant, Emme's shoe fell off. Lindsi gently pulled her out of the parade line, fixed her shoe & then helped her join back in. Lindsi was just so sweet with her.
Jami really liked Emme too. Mostly in the..FINALLY, someone smaller than me...look what I can do dept. Whatever daring stunt Jami did, Emme was sure to follow. Jami liked THAT. Only once did I see / hear Jami exclaim loudly to Emme that Lindsi was HER sister. Mostly Jami was content to let Lindsi & Emme enjoy their mutual adoration, because then she had me almost all to herself.

We had such a fantastic day. I sure wish everyone lived closer! It was way too short of a visit!!

A Day At WDW

2009-02-12T08:37:00.007-05:00
Last week we headed down for a day at the Mouse House. We met up with our friends on Thu PM at the hotel. All of the girls had such a GREAT TIME together. I'll post pics of that once I get permission to share...=)

The next morning we headed to AK. We saw the Nemo Show & went on the Jeep Safari. Lindsi took these great photos with my camera.. I think she's probably ready for a better camera of her own for her birthday in May.

Our friends had lunch reservations at the Crystal Palace at MK in the early afternoon, so as soon as we got off the safari we hustled over to the other park. Lunch was GREAT! It's a buffet restaurant at the end of Main ST & the characters were Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, & Eyeore.

After lunch, we caught the show at the castle & then went on about 6-7 rides. The weather was nice (about 65), crowds were small.

Jami wanted a pose on Dumbo's ear like Lindsi, but every time I set her up there, she'd slide off before I could take her picture. So, she got a trunk picture..=)

Just before the fireworks we found this friend (who had been at MK earlier in the day, hopped to another park in the afternoon, & then came back to MK). Kris & I have known each other since I brought Jami home in Oct 2006. She's the one who I owe nearly all my AWESOME photos of the girls to.....=)

It was a GREAT day. We all had a FANTASTIC time. Although, we did miss meeting this Blog friendThat would have made the day complete.

More great photos to come........

CNY Re Visited

2009-02-09T09:56:00.009-05:00
Our FCC CNY get together was on Jan 31. One of our families has a BEAUTIFUL place on about 20 acres. It's so much fun for the kids, as they have some Emus, baby chicks that were just hatched, sheep & lambs, mini cows....a whole farm experience for the kids to enjoy.

This year, they also had some ponies brought in for the kids to ride around the orchard.

Top that off with fun crafts, Chinese stories, awesome food, & great fellowship & you have a wonderful afternoon. The weather stayed nice (50's) until sundown & then we hurriedly did the dragon dance so people could escape to their warm cars.

My friend Kris was the official photographer for the event. Next year, I sure hope that she's too busy enjoying the day with her own little one, but for now, we still get to enjoy her AWESOME photo skills.

Pics from the day (all taken by Kris Jackson):

A New Little Game

2009-01-30T09:48:00.004-05:00
My Blog friend Amy had this new, little game on her site to help blog buddies get to know each other a little better. Here's the way it's played...

If you want to play, leave a comment on this post letting me know, and I’ll assign you a letter. You write about ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter, and post it at your place. When people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain continues on and on...

Amy assigned me the letter:

"D"

1. DARLING little girls...two of them, that fill my life up to overflowing.

2. DEPENDABLE family....siblings & parents who are there whenever we need some advice, babysitting, loans.

3. DOLLARS...Happy in this economy to still have a steady flow coming in.

4. DAREDEVIL...Jami is the biggest one in our family.

5. DEAF....Lindsi's Deafness has brought so many wonderful people & experiences into our lives. It's been an unexpected journey, but one filled with a lot of rewards.

6. DELIGHTFUL....What my girls are MOST of the time.

7. DISNEY PRINCESSES.....It looks like my house is sponsored by these lovely ladies.

8. DECENT.....I would like to (effortlessly) meet a decent (SINGLE, EMPLOYED, INTERESTED, CHRISTIAN, CLEAN, LOVES KIDS) kind of guy

9. DREAMS...I am encouraged by them coming true & encourage my children to dream BIG & OFTEN.....

10. DAILY prayer & meditation keeps me happy.

(Comment or email if you'd like to play along!)

Helecopter Parenting

2009-01-27T09:10:00.005-05:00

Are you familar with the term Helecopter Parents?......I'm betting you are. If you're not, a helecopter parent is a parent who hovers...who scoops in to rescue the moment their child gets too close to screwing up or getting them selves into a tricky or uncomfortable situation.

The whole idea behind NOT being a helecopter parent is that by allowing your kids to make mistakes, take risks, experience uncomfortable situations, when the currency (result) is low, you'll hopefully avoid the BIG consequences later. I GET all of that. I BELIEVE it to be TRUE. And, I try very hard to NOT be a helecopter parent.

All that being said, tomorrow, I am breaking my own rule & going to act like a helecopter parent. For some reason, Lindsi HATES fire drills. It's not like she has a good reason to hate fire drills.....she certainly is no where near the situation of the poor kid who lost a parent & sibling to a fire & is now personally escorted to the comfort of an office prior to any fire drills. No, for her, fire drills are just noisy & chaotic, & worst of all, timed. She totally stresses out, gets upset, & cries when she has to participate in a fire drill. In short, she becomes a mess.

Tomorrow AM, I know, courtesy of her bus driver, that they are scheduled for a bus drill. He knows how upset they make her & thought that by giving her a heads up, she would be better able to handle it. Instead, on the day he told her, as soon as the bus pulled out of sight, she started sobbing & she has marked the days, & she has worried about it every day since then.

Part of me thinks that if she just did the drill, she would see (again) that it is just practice in case of an emergency. A bigger part of me though, does not want her to be so upset & stressed out as she starts her school day. In the past either her interpreter or one of her past teachers has had to comfort her & calm her down after a drill.

She knows how to exit her bus if there's an emergency. There are only about 5 kids, an aide & her driver on the bus anyways. I know she's safe in her current bus situation.

So, even though it's inconvenient for me, tomorrow, I will get Jami up & dressed an hour early so that I can drive Lindsi into school, so that she can SKIP the bus drill.

I am totally, (sadly? lovingly?.....not sure which)the helecopter parent tomorrow.

Happy New Year

2009-01-25T19:24:00.003-05:00
Next weekend is our big FCC Chinese New Year gathering.....

Tomorrow, Lindsi's teacher is devoting the whole morning to Chinese New Year. There is a Chinese boy in Lindsi's class & his parents are coming in to help with the lessons. I'm going in to learn more..lol... Then, the kids are going to enjoy a lunch meal of Chinese food.

So, from our house to yours...Gung Hay Fat Choy!!

Oh yes...do you notice that Lindsi is missing another tooth....the girl collected at least $3 for that tooth & some of it from church members this AM!!! Our church family just adores both girls....=) Next month I'm sending her out to collect our mortgage payment.

Misc Ramblings

2009-01-22T08:42:00.007-05:00
It's been pretty normal routine life around here lately. Nothing interesting enough to blog about.....

But, here are a few things roaming around in my head:

- Not only is Cinderella the STAR princess in the Dis*ney collection (according to my girls), but one of our cats also had that name bestowed upon her. Jami has always said Cinda-El-La-la (an extra la in the name). This week I noticed that she was saying the name correctly now. She's slowly losing her toddler speak...=(

- Lindsi is growing vertical at an alarming rate. People at church, who see her every week, comment on it often. Pants that fit her fine in Sept are now above her ankles. Over New Years we picked up the bins of clothes from my niece. Size 7-8s. She nearly skipped over size 6. So, she has about a size 5 waist & needs a 7 in length. She hovered on the 49 lb mark for quite awhile, but all of her recent vertical growth has pushed her over. Friends joke that she could possibly be Yao Ming's love child. ha ha

- It was 18 degrees when Lindsi caught her bus today. I'll download a picture later of her in her winters warmest. Another haha.... Jami, on the otherhand is a summer dress & flip flop kind of girl. She is so LUCKY she was not adopted by a family who lives in cold weather. As long as we don't leave the house, she can wear her halter dress & sandals.......I think she's nuts.

- My sister Pam finally posted her very cute christmas Hall*Mark commercial story. Hop over & read it. It's cute.

- For someone who has never been married, I have been thinking about marriage a lot. No, not to any particular person...more in how marriages work & what makes them successful vs not. For instance, the office of the President has got to be one of the top stressful jobs in the world, yet, as far back as I can remember, the Presidents marriage has been solid (excepte for one...but they are still together).

While I was born during a different President's time in office, the first President I can recall is Richard Nixon. He had Pat. Then Gerald Ford & his rock & love, Betty. Then Jimmy Carter & Rosalyn. Ronald Reagan & Nancy...OK I know Ronnie was married before, but the marriage he had with Nancy was long & love filled. The elder Bush's...George & Barbara, again, another deep & abiding love. The Clintons..they are sort of the odd couple out, but something keeps them together, whether its appearances, or history together, or a comfortable understanding between them. Then George & Laura Bush who I think have a good marriage. Now there is Barack & Michelle. They seem to be living out their own love story. Their marriage seems strong & their family life seems wonderful.

I just think it's interesting that the most stressful job, keeps strong marriages & doesn't rip them apart. **I do know that some Presidents were bachelors..I am just reflecting on these few couples. OR maybe it's the skills that go into a great marriage are also skills needed to be President??? The Vice Presidents have pretty good marriage track records as well.

Oh well...just things on my mind.

Read Her Blog

2009-01-16T12:39:00.003-05:00
I hope you will pop over & read my sister, Pam's blog. She doesn't post nearly enough, but she is so witty. Even though I know her stories already, I still end up laughing at her written accounts.

I'm still hoping she'll blog about being in the quintessential Mc*Donald / Hall*Mark commercial this past December.

2009-01-15T08:43:00.002-05:00
So, Amy tagged me on the book reading game.

Here's how it works:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open to page 56.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 2-5 sentences along with the rules.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book or the intellectual book. Pick the CLOSEST.
6. Tag 5 other people to do the same.

As luck would have it, the closest book to me is a library book that Jami took the scissors to, quite awhile ago. The library said I could replace it (it's on Amazon for $11) VS $28 library price. But, it's not 56 pages long......

So, the next closest book with at least 56 pages is (and I'm NOT going for the phone book, which is next closest, but just too boring)....The Wok Cookbook. Wouldn't you know it...page 56 is a full page picture..so onto page 57 which introduces the shallow frying technique:

5th sentence:
The oil allows the butter to heat beyond its normal tolerance, bringing to the dish a richness of flavor that frying oil alone would not provide. However oil or butter alone can be used.

I'm envious of those of you who still can make time for pleasure reading...I try, but it just doesn't happen very often for me anymore.

I'm not going to tag any specific folks, but feel free to do this & let me know in the comment section, so I can pop over & read your selection.

Finally, please keep my brother & his wife in your prayers as both of them work for companies / organizations going through layoffs within the next week.

QUIET

2009-01-05T10:22:00.002-05:00
It is so quiet in my house this morning since both girls are back at school (Jami goes 2 mornings a week).

I am usually SO READY for the girls to go back, but this time I honestly felt like their break FLEW by & I would have loved another week of them being home.

We've had a great time playing together, on the swingset, at the park, with their new games from Christmas. It has just been a wonderful time.

I hope your 2009 is starting out on a good note too.