The Last Week or So...

A week ago Friday at the boys' school, a singer came to entertain the kids. The younger kids all had a blast. I was not able to catch them but JiaLi especially enjoyed hanging out with big brother Joseph and dancing with his friends. We caught it on video but the video is way too long. The Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk was last Sunday. I walked the beginning with my neighbor, and then Joe met us at the 13 mile point with the 3 kids to walk the remainder with us. I was so proud of them. They did such a great job and had such a great spirit. There is Jenise and her friend crossing the finish line. I did offer to hold Danny's hand;) The boys just have not been able to get a soccer game in this month. Well, they played one but otherwise they have been rained out every Saturday. Jenise on the other hand is playing on the travel soccer team this year and they, so far, have played no matter what. Here she is today warming up, but it began to rain so much the photos were not clear:) Finally thank you Secret Buddy for the most recent gift and thank you for your patience with our process. I came home Thursday all excited because there was a message from the Social Worker helping us. The message was letting us know that they have not forgotten about us and that they are hoping to start a class by the end of September. (September 30th is Tuesday???) They need to find someone to teach the class because she is not teaching it anymore. I wanted to ask what was needed to teach the class!! I know, patience, prayers and lots of deep breaths. Secret Buddy, this is such a great gift. You have the best ideas! Thank you. O.k. this is a silly add on. I am reading all the updates on my DH's travel mates blogs and reading about how the girls have gone to the dentist. Had to share that JiaLi went to her first appointment on September 3rd (I did not bring a camera) and I was so proud of her. She was a nervous wreck the night before but pulled through. Same thing--no cavities. But...when she bit down...way out of line..looks like future mouthwork. Jenise is going through some right now--she just got a palate expander and then might need braces on her front teeth.

Trying to be a Better Blogger:)

Here is JiaLi on the playground at school. Of course, the day I have my camera, no monkey bars. She was too busy with everything else. I stand a distance from the playground when I wait and even though I can see her I am unable to get a decent photo. Had to crop it though to show her expression--she has that smile on when I drop her off and when I pick her up. She is loving preschool!! Thought I would post some photos from our last weekend before this weekend approaches and I don't post. The first photos are from the birthday party at cousins. Fishing and swimming was fun for the kids. Poor Danny--his hook got stuck on a rock. Of course, when you look at the dock picture, you will notice no adults. It was in the 60s and we were too wimpy to go in. Gotta love kids:) Here is JiaLi with her loot from the pinata. We went to a party on Sunday at my DH's parents. His younger sister is getting married in May(YAY!!) and we had a get-together to meet her fiance's family. I wasn't a good picture taker there but did take some like the cousins on the big swing. And Jenise with a dragonfly--might have to do something with this one. Had to end with this one from the birthday party!!

School and Losing Teeth:) And a Question...

Here she is on her first day of school. I can't get over how well she did. She went right in with no tears. A little bit of wondering but went right about her day. At the end of the day, she is usually on the playground. I tried to get to her school a little early today but she was in the bathroom!!! I wanted to take pictures of her on those monkey bars--she's doing them and turning around when she gets to the end...maybe I should get her into gymnastics;) Hopefully as the end of the week approaches, I will be able to catch her. She goes three mornings a week. She does have her favorite ladybug backpack which I will also try to get a photo of. She received it from her cousin Catherine who is in big kid school now(Kindergarten) and needs a larger backpack. The photo in pink is JiaLi on day2--willing to go back:) Had to throw one in of the boys:) Edward, who is 6, lost his first tooth on Friday. We were hoping to be into the adoption-related class that I talked about a few posts ago and we never heard. I was getting nervous that we did something wrong(like forgot to submit something). Finally we called and it turns out they did not have enough people for the class and are holding it in October. I pray we get into it...this waiting thing over a class which seems so doable is driving me crazy. I know I shouldn't complain but I just want to take some more steps... On a different note, my question is related to the Moon Festival which is right around the corner. With JiaLi in school now, I wanted to go in with a book/activity for her class. I was wondering if you had a book to recommend that kids enjoy related to the Moon Festival to share. As some may remember, her first year home, her birthday fell on the Moon Festival and it's now just one of those days that I want to make sure we celebrate:) Thank you in advance for sharing!!

A Big Day

Today is a big day for our little girl. JiaLi will be starting preschool. I am both happy and sad. I hate that she is going but I am so happy for her to go. (Did that make sense?) She was hilarious last night at bedtime. She called me back in the room three times telling me that she had to tell me something. The final one was "are the other kids going to be there without their Mommy and Daddy too?" We had a day last week to visit the school with Mommy and she loved it. We'll see. BTW, this photo was taken by my brother-in-law at our August family reunion:)