Pictures for Ch*na!

Sarah's new family meeting her at the airport!

Happy 9th Birthday Sarah!

Sarah and her little sister Anna!

Sarah loves to swim! She is very good at it!

Sarah teaching her Aunt how to count in Chinese!

Sarah and Anna looking at books!

Sarah and her new family! (only the kids that live at home)

Anna loves her big sister Sarah!

Sarah's friends from China! (that live in near us!)

Last month we did our 6 month follow up with our agency. My homework was to get 8 pics together with short  captions next to them.  With digital pictures, computers and digital cameras I rarely develop my pics. They are stored on my computer and then that is backed up. So for me to pick ONLY 8 pictures of our sweet Sarah was next to impossible. Only 8 pictures from 6 months together! I started going through our pics and found 60 that would be a good fit for this assignment! I had them developed and well, here are the 8 I picked. It helped that they need to be horizontal pictures - I had some wonderful vertical pictures but they didn't fit on the paper. I actually have an extra pic up- I think I did not put in the one of the girls in brown.

I like these pictures because they show a precious little girl becoming part of a family! We are so blessed to have her as our daughter and sister! Thank you Jesus!

Up!

The other day the girls and I went to the library. I had been thinking about trying a movie but Anna had never sat through one at the movie theatre so I wasn't quite sure if it was going to work out. 

We sat in the car at the library and discussed our options.

1. Read our library books at home and then watch a mov ie together at home.

2. Was to go to the theatre and watch the new disney movie "Up".

I had a very wishy washy crew- neither choice excited them. So I said to them that whenm a momma takes her kids to the movie theater it is very special, it is something that the children are usually very excited to do, it is a special treat! I told them our their older brothers and sister would always be really excited to go with mom. And IF they would be so lucky as to get to go to the theatre with Mom they would want to be-

1. excited

2. prepared to sit through the whole movie

( Okay- I'm leaving a little bit out - I did throw the comment that if we did go home we could get a little more school work done!)

It was unanimous! Everyone wanted to go to the theatre! And they became excited about it!

This was a first time for Anna and a first time for me taking both girls! They did great and loved the movie. Anna sat on my lap the whole time - otherwise I think the folding chair would have swallowed her up! We all had icees- Mmmmmmm good. We discussed the movie after to explain a few details. We got it- kinda, sorta! Most importantly, we had fun!

Our God is an Awesome God!

Sarah has been going to Vacation Bible School for the last couple days and she is loving it! It is so cool to see her enjoying herself at church and being with other kids her age! She doesn't quite "get" all that is going on put she his having fun! There is so much for her to "take in" with every new experience that it is impossible for her to understand all that is happening. Sometime I have to realize this and lower my expectations- our church is pretty big, so if she just finds her classroom, does the activities and stays with the group it is a success!

I came a few minutes early and all the kids were singing "Our God is an awesome God he reigns over heaven and earth, with wisdom, power and joy, our God is an awesome God!" It was so heartwarming to hear! She doesn't know the words yet but it is such a catchy, comforting tune- she'll get it soon!

I don't usually get very many comments on this blog BUT if by chance you know the nicer, more kid friendly version of "Now I lay me down to sleep"- will you please let me know what the rest of it is. I always said "if I should die before I wake..." I am not a fan of that version- and I don't want to freak out the kids!

 

Thank you! Blessings to you!

The best birthday party... ever!

This last weekend we went to a wonderful children's birthday party! It was for Ruby! The girls were thrilled to be invited and after seeing the pics you will wish you were there, too! Ruby turned 4 yrs old and is from Taiwan, she has been home about 2 yrs. She has a big sister Ila- 5 yrs old and a little brother Cash- 8 months old. They were apart of our original adoption group and have remained close friends.

Sarah totally got into the party and had a ton of fun. They had real ponies there and she rode them 3 times! Anna was afraid of the ponies and chose to stay in Daddy's arms. She was a bit shy, okay really shy and watched most of the fun from a safe distance. Anna did gladly indulge in the marshmellow eating and the loved the candy from the pinata!

This party set some high birthday standards- everything was perfectly planned out and went smoothly! 

After we got home cowgirl Anna went on and on about how much fun it was and how she will ride the horses when she is 4 yrs old! She wore her hat and bandana for the rest of the day! She didn't partake in anything but still had the best time!

I like it clean...

I am not a particularly neat person but I do like things clean. I have a tendency to have numerous junk drawers and a few "working" piles of paper around the house. Well yes, I always have a stack of laundry that reaches the ceiling. Oh and my car is well, lets say "lived in". 

BUT, I can not stand sticky hands, food on clothes, rolling around at the park in the dirt, taking off shoes at a dirty place- to one of our daughters this is normal. She does not like it clean and she has made that very clear. 

I told her the other day as we left playgroup. (She was the dirtiest child at the park but she probably had the most fun!) I said "Honey, we are going to practice being clean cause Momma likes it clean!" Without any hesitation she told me "Well, I like it dirty!" "No honey,  Momma likes it clean" giggle giggle giggle "I like it dirty" this continued for quite a while until I realized I was losing this discussion.

That night we had spaghetti. As you cam tell she thoroughly enjoyed it! And yes, I was down on my hands and knees wiping up the floor... again ...

BTW who is charge of this girls hair?

Learn how to pump on a swing- check!

We have a few non academic goals for Sarah this summer. One of them is to learn how to pump (use your legs) and swing independently. Today she did it!! She is so proud of herself! " I can do it, Mom, I can do it!" I think our good friend Karen may have worked with Sarah during their play time! Thank you Karen! 

The two other summer goals are- to be able to do the monkey bars- just 2-3 rungs would be good enough for all of us. This takes a lot more strength and coordination than you may think. Our third summer goal is for Sarah to learn how to ride a two wheel bike. Right now she has training wheels on but hopefully sometime this summer she can get those off!

Way to go Sarah!! Yippee!! You are doing such a good job and learning so many new things! 

And they licked the car seat clean!

In the process of changing the car seat from one car to the other we had it sitting in the garage for a couple hours. I didn't think anything of it but each time I went outside the car seat had moved just a little. Then it occurred to me- oh no, Anna sits in there and eats frequently. The dogs must literally be eating the car seat to get at whatever morsel they can scrooge up. I ran outside to check it out and you won't believe what I saw- a car seat that looked like new! Yes, it has a few germs on it but wow did they do a nice job! 

As Kate was getting ready for her trip the girls were hanging out in her car. Anna had quite a good time. Beware if you are driving anywhere in Mn- there's a 3 yr old on the loose!