Hoping for Six

What A Face

2009-05-07T08:50:00.001-04:00

Patch of Sunflowers

2009-05-04T13:09:00.004-04:00

Here is the "cake" we made for a cake auction at our Church. Jenise called it a "Patch of Sunflowers". Glad we brought it--it didn't get the lowest bid;)

A Photo A Day

2009-05-02T12:15:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time since blogging but as I look back, I love the memories because my scrapbooking is WAY behind. I thought I would try to set a doable goal. I am not much of a talker but love posting photos. So my new goal is to post one picture a day and on days that I miss, the next post will have that many more photos. I've seen other blogs that do this and I thought it was a neat idea:) Here goes...

Choosing the Christmas Tree

2008-12-15T12:40:00.005-05:00

Each year for Christmas we alternate the kids and let one of them choose our Christmas tree, and each year we forget who chose the tree the previous Christmas. I am documentig here to make it official, this year Edward chose our tree and next year it will be JiaLi's turn. Edward was so cute--he was our speediest chooser yet. He saw two trees and made a comment that one of them was too small and too wide but as soon as he saw this tree(which was the other of the two trees), he said "this is my tree." His mind was made up. We got the tree two weekends ago and finally decorated Saturday. Danny and Jenise are at the same school this year and they each had a chorus concert last Tuesday. We had our adoption class last Tuesday evening during their concert and since we did miss one class in November, we wanted to make sure we did not miss again.(We cannot miss more than two.) Luckily Gramma and Papa were able to bring them and not only did they bring them to the concert but they also brought them out for dinner. Thank you Gramma and Papa!!! We are thankful too that our local Cable channel recorded their show and we will be able to watch it on our local channel this week or next week:) The rest of the pictures are the kids decorating the tree and posing with the finished product at the end. Their pose was all them--nothing to do with Mommy or Daddy. If you click on it, you can see their expressions even better.

The Big 40

2008-12-06T10:23:00.005-05:00

Here they are--my hubby and his twin. This October they turned the big 40 and my sister-in-law(his brother's wife) and I held a surprise party. The weekend we held it was a weekend that we usually hold our Halloween party. (We held our Halloween party a week later this year.) Soooo, my husband knew something was up. My Mom had had surgery so I told him that my Mom had thought she would be better but she still can't drive and would not be able to babysit so maybe we can go out as a family. Then a few days later, I told him that I had been talking to Amy and she wanted to try to have us go out together since it was such a big birthday;) So, he wasn't quite sure what was happening. That Saturday, Edward had a birthday party and I was stressing out while I was there because I was supposed to meet Amy at the restaurant to decorate right in the middle his party. Thankfully one of the Moms at the party offered to give Edward a ride home(people are so nice). Well, this would have been fine if when I said good bye to Edward I didn't tell him I was going to go decorate for Daddy's party. While I was there decorating, I returned home and Joe told me that JiaLi commented that "we were having a surprise"(now I said nothing to her--her ears are just too good) and then Edward said to him "yeah and Mommy is there right now decorating." Arghhhh....oh well, it was still good because he had no idea where we were going or who would be there. He enjoyed it:) We are so lucky that Uncle Pete with a lot of coercing agreed to sing some Irish folk music. Everyone there enjoyed it and it was so great for the kids to see Uncle Pete in action. (yes, he has a twin too) The remainder of the pictures are in no special order. I was mad at myself, a lot of the photos from the evening came out blurry. I know, I overpost JiaLi but had to include this one of her wrapped in her new blanket from her Auntie. I was hoping we could replace her green torn up one...not yet. AND we are so excited for Annslee having her new brother with her:) YAY!!! He is such a cutie and we are so excited for you!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T11:01:00.007-05:00

I could not let this week go by without giving my Secret Pal a very,very big thank you. This Christmas Elf is the cutest thing ever!!! I have never heard of this tradition and it is the best---we love it! Thank you Secret Pal for such a perfect gift. News on our adoption: We have 4 classes left to take which if the weather cooperates will be done in 2 weeks. Snow may be the only factor but we are saying prayers it won't. We had a home study last week and we are having one more on Tuesday and then once we get all our paperwork together, we will be ready to progress. Just a few more pieces. Our oldest daughter is trying to grow her bangs out(she's almost there) and she constantly has her hair in a headband and clip. JiaLi asked her to do her hair one morning... Here they are. Thanksgiving this year was great for us. We are so thankful for all our family. Some years not everyone can make it whether it be work(a nurse is in the family), or having to go to the other side of the family. This year all of Jos's family made it. All the cousins were there:) Where JiaLi goes for preschool, the class pictures are not done until the spring. All the other kids had their school photos done in the fall and usually I include them with Christmas gifts. I was going to be patient and wait but I decided to try to take one of JiaLi like I did last year. Here is our start: She has this thing when her picture is being taken of tilting her head--not sure where it came from but Danny used to do it! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We just love this time of year--especially the special anniversary we celebrate of JiaLi coming home!

It's a Halloween Post...

2008-11-13T09:45:00.003-05:00

Thought I would warn you with the title. I was going to not post but I decided why not. As I mentioned earlier, for her preschool class, JiaLi dressed like a lion. It is a costume she received for her birthday that will not fit her next year(it barely fit her this year) and to get use out of it, she wanted to wear it to school(this is with no coercion by Mommy). Of course whenever her cousins are over(seen in the next picture), they love to play lion and it ends up on one of them:)We were very excited to have our cousins stop by for some early trick-or-treating. As soon as they arrived, JiaLi ran to her room to get her costume. And here they are ready to go. Danny and Jenise went with their friends this year so it was just these three and our neighbors. It was nice having the three(Daddy was sick this year so Mommy took the kids--it was nice though because the Moms were the ones this year too who took their kids). JiaLi was very excited to catch up with her best buddy while we were out trick-or-treating. And here they are checking out what they received. JiaLi had the most and the reason, we had such a large group and JiaLi waited patiently at each house and because of her wings, got stuck in the doors. Most of the people giving out treats did not understand that she was stuck and continued to load her bag since she was standing with it open. Of course, she made no effort to move or say she was stuck... had there been no candy, believe me she would have communicated!! The rate I've been posting, I thought I would add this photo. This was just a random day and these two decided to play secret agent and dress in their black(dark blue)clothing to be agents.

Pictures from Disney

2008-11-04T16:55:00.011-05:00

Well, you wanted pictures, here we go... Don't ever let JiaLi fool you--she LOVES to dance and sing-especially with the big kids:) These photos really are in no certain order. We had such a good time. We went with my DH's brother and one of their best friends. There were 10 kids and 6 adults. While in Epcot we ran into someone working there also from China with a very similar last name as the Qi that JiaLi had and in honor of that she gave JiaLi stickers galore--JiaLi was very proud that they came from someone from China. Jiali's favorite spots were the water areas throughout the parks. Of course, had to ride the tea cups. Not a ride Mommy went on though---no thank you;) Animal Kingdom was actually the first park we went to. Above are the girls in the group and below are the "4" (well, almost 4) year olds. (JiaLi is the only one 4 and one will be 4 in Nov. and the other in Jan.) This year, Auntie Sheri gave each of the kids a $25 gift certificate for Disney. Here is JiaLi with her souvenir:)

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T11:57:00.002-04:00

Thought I would post to say Happy Halloween to everyone. We went to Disney in early October and spent one evening trick-or-treating. The issue was the evening we did this it not only poured like the usual quick Florida pour but it rained the entire evening. I did not get good photos but here is JiaLi as Tinkerbell, Jenise was Ella Enchanted, Daniel was one of the Celtics, Joseph was Indiana Jones and Edward was Anakin. Yesterday at preschool, JiaLi had a parade and she dressed like a lion--she received a lion costume from her Gramma for her birthday. She is back in her Tinkerbell costume today. We are going to Joseph's and Edward's school to watch their parade. Last weekend we had a surprise party for Joe and his twin--they turned 40. Photos coming. We usually hold our Halloween party on the last weekend in October but because of the 40th party, we are holding it November 1st so I may be posting Halloween photos for the month of November;) We started our class. We have taken 3 classes and have either 5 or 7 more to take. (we are not clear if we need to take 8 or 10 classes since the outline of the class is for 8 sessions but the dates of the classes are for 10) We'll see but we are happy to finally be started. We have a lot of homework to do!! I've also been teaching 2 religious ed. classes at our church--even though each is only twice a month it still occupies time but I am loving it. I am teaching Joseph's and Jenise's classes. I have also been able to volunteer during the week in the schools. Having lots of fun and wishing I could post more and I will. Secret Buddy, thank you for the Halloween goodies this month. I will be posting about it---the books are the best--we don't have any of them:) THANK YOU!!!

The October Kids

2008-10-06T14:06:00.004-04:00

I took these photos last week trying to get the leaves just beginning to turn. Of course, JiaLi ccooperated with goofy faces. Joseph and JiaLi each have their birthdays in early October. My DH was out of town all last week, and my sister and Mom one of the days brought over a cake for the both of them. Here they are blowing out the candles with their cousins. We did sing happy birthday to JiaLi yesterday--I'll try to post. BTW, our class starts this Thursday and continues until the first or second week in December. Later that night they were sitting together at supper(we have a bench on one side) and JiaLi was repeatedly saying with a big giggle "we're the October kids!" (that's what she is trying to whisper in his ear in the third photo down)

The Last Week or So...

2008-09-27T21:13:00.006-04:00

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:)

2008-09-18T14:21:00.012-04:00

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...

2008-09-09T14:10:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-02T05:56:00.006-04:00

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:)

Girls at the Zoo

2008-08-28T12:33:00.011-04:00

Here are the gifts from my incredible Secret Buddy. Thank you Secret Buddy. All of the kids have enthusiastically been wearing their Red Thread bracelets. I can't wait to place a photo in that adorable frame,wrap our child in that towel and fill that album with photos! Thank you too for the recent gift. I will post a photo soon. One week this summer, the boys had a basketball camp. It was a half-day camp for Joseph and Edward and Danny was able to work as a Jr. Counselor. It was a great experience for him. The kids were in grades 1-4. On the last morning, the girls and I went to a zoo in the same town. One special thing at the zoo was the white lion. Jenise loved how everything in the zoo was made of recycled material--including the bench they are sitting on. The girls enjoyed the bubble machine and the mist tent more than anything else:) I definitely need to go back and fix the lighting on this picture...I just thought it was cute--hope you can see them:) The darkness was bugging me so I added some light. I have a bad habit of overcorrecting but at least now you can see them...well, you can see Jenise. If only that hat were slightly higher:)

We Are Here...

2008-08-25T20:21:00.003-04:00

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted. I honestly did not think that much time had gone by. I told myself I would post before the kids were back in school and they are back tomorrow so I am posting tonight:) These are scatterings from our summer. I finally took the card out of our camera and uploaded/downloaded photos. We have the girls at the zoo(more to come), the boys after basketball camp, fishing at our family reunion and Danny finally caught a fish, JiaLi getting a ride from Grandma and JiaLi with Mama Pug and her other Gramma. We have had such a great summer. Secret Buddy thanks for the gifts, I will be posting them. The kids all wear their Red Thread Bracelets religiously. I just love it. Thanks for everything. So what's going on with our adoption? Not something I really like to talk about. I get nervous. With JiaLi, we told immediate family but really didn't come out and tell people(although with all the references, many knew)until we had everything over there. Now with Vietnam, I haven't said anything yet but now I will. We withdrew. We did not feel far enough along in the process and did not want to lose more money. We were researching other countries and came to a decision that we agreed upon. We are adopting from right here. We applied and had a visit the end of July with a Social Worker and now we need to take a 10-week, 1-night per week class and we are hoping to get into one for September and then go from there. We'll see. I miss you all and I am going to try to get caught up this week on everyone's blogs:)

Goggles and shopping

2008-07-23T13:05:00.003-04:00

Edward will sit an endless amount of time and listen to stories. But now he is at an age where he really needs to be reading more independently. The kids came home with recommended authors from the schools for summer reading. We picked up some books from the library by one of the authors for Edward(the Max and Ruby author). The book that he enjoyed the most was Max's Dragon Shirt and we focused on him reading it. He understands each of the sounds for all of the letters but gets overwhelmed by the larger words--which I know is normal for most kids(went through it with the others) but Edward's frustration sometimes gets really bad with a temper added on. I tried and tried to think of something to motivate him(I know, I should say bribe) and came up with goggles. We just got some for Danny because he is swimming higher distances and it makes sense for him to wear them as he swims laps but wanted the younger ones to work on keeping their eyes open under water. When I brought up buying goggles if he read the whole book to me...what a change. He ended up reading the book 5 times before we even got the goggles. I did offer goggles for the others too;) when we were shopping. As many of you know from previous posts, I am a horrible shopper and my kids really should have more bathing suits than they do for the amount of time that they are in the water;) Well, I finally brought JiaLi shopping(the same day we got the goggles). I bought her two bathing suits and right away when she saw this in the store she had to get it because Jenise had it. Jenise was such a good sport with her. I had to laugh to at the diving post on Annslee's blog. JiaLi is actually up to 5 times jumping with her sister:) JiaLi is not diving or anything fancy yet but we are proud that she has gone from bobbing in the water to diving to the bottom to get toys:) Step-by-step:) The next day, it was the cutest thing. We were driving Jenise to her camp and JiaLi said to Jenise "wasn't that fun yesterday wearing the same bathing suit."

It's happened...she says wicked...

2008-07-21T11:01:00.005-04:00

The other day we were at a park and JiaLi wanted to go on the swings. The others were playing baseball. The swings were right in the sun and it was a hot day. Prior to going on the swing, I told her to be careful because the swings might be hot. She used her hand to touch and test the swing and she turned and said, "Ooooooo,the swings are wicked hot!" This one is from the cookout a few weekends ago. I love how the popsicle matches her bathing suit:)

And he is six...

2008-07-19T23:12:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, Edward turned six. We will be holding his birthday party with the family in August to try to give us a little more time to work on the tree fort. For his birthday, Edward chose supper. He decided on quesadillas(may not be spelt right). As we were shopping for ingredients, he turned to me and said, "Mommy do I like quesadillas?" Daddy did the cooking. And the meal was enjoyed by everyone:) A great choice Edward:) While we were shopping, we also strolled down the ice cream aisle and he chose a dessert. Italian ice:) These two enjoyed strawberry while the others enjoyed lemon. Jenise topped everyone's off with a piece of candy from the bag of candy she received from her coach at the basketball camp she attended last week:) BTW, they are sitting on the floor because it was a hot evening and they ate supper in the air-conditioned bedroom:)

Summer

2008-07-16T13:33:00.002-04:00

Jenise had a jumprope camp last week and I was in awe at how she jumped. They did Double Dutch jumproping and some other jumprope things. Of course, JiaLi also wanted to jumprope and the day we went to watch, JiaLi made sure to bring a jumprope along. JiaLi also enjoyed jumproping without a rope:) Everyone except JiaLi participated in swimming lessons last week and this week. They have had a lesson each day and will finish tomorrow. The age to participate is Kindergarten. I'm not sure what clicked this week but all of a sudden, JiaLi is doing bobs in the water on her own:) We are so proud of her:) I don't know if you can tell but in the lower photo of the big brother pictures, JiaLi is riding his back. Since Joseph was in the post yesterday didn't want to leave Edward out:) He had a collision with his brother while playing basketball and landed on his head--luckily he also landed on his elbow so that full impact was not to the head. I keep telling him that just because he dressed like Harry Potter last Halloween doesn't mean he needs to Really be him.(for those who have read, I am referring to the Lightening scar on his head--all week, he has been saying now I really look like Harry Potter.)

Our Seven Year Old and His Thoughts...

2008-07-14T23:30:00.005-04:00

I have had this in my head sine it happened and had to post about it. The photo has nothing to do with the story but I made sure to take a picture of these two over the weekend so that I could share the story:) Of course, this photo is cracking me up because JiaLi is eyeing Joseph's popsicle even though she has one of her own;) The kids were eating lunch the other day and just doing there usual talking back and forth. All of a sudden, Joseph turned to me and said, "Mommy, I'm glad JiaLi isn't Chinese any more." He had a big smile on his face. I looked at him wondering what he was thinking. I tried to explained that a part of JiaLi will always be Chinese. He looked at me again and said, "Yeah but I can talk to her." We talked a little bit more and I went on to say that we never know, maybe one day JiaLi will learn Chinese. A few hours later Joseph approached me with concern. "Mommy, will I understand JiaLi when she gets bigger?" (Joseph is thinking in purely language terms.) I told him that since JiaLi was so young when she came home that English is her main language and she will ALWAYS be a _______________(I used our last name). What a sigh of relief he breathed.

Our Day At The Beach...

2008-07-10T17:54:00.004-04:00

was just a blast. The kids were so hilarious. When we first got there, JiaLi just kept studying the water trying to decide if she was going to go in. The photo with her looking up with her eyes closed, she is clinging to my leg and pretty much did that at the beginning. Edward was a little hesitant but wanted to be right there with the kids. Every one of them lost there balance from an oncoming wave. They were a little frightened but not enough to stay out of the water. JiaLi, of course, changed how she felt and was right there trying to jump with the kids. The waves were big and did make Mommy nervous so they were limited with how far they could go but they didn't complain:) Showing Mommy their broken shells;) Here is a new favorite:)

DAY ONE

2008-07-08T13:29:00.007-04:00

I was hoping to post pictures from our family reunion but I did a bad job that day and the pictures didn't come out that great:( I am posting now our trip. I apologize for so many photos but believe it or not I did narrow down. Last week, my DH had a business trip in Long Island and very last minute, the whole family tagged along. The very first day, we were not sure how far from the office we were and I didn't want to spend all day trying to find my way around so Daddy drove himself and we hung out at the hotel. (Mommy did not have success here getting a family shot but that's o.k.--wait till you see the beach.) We went for a walk to see what was around and then when we returned we went swimming. There was an indoor and an outdoor pool and the outdoor pool was not crowded at all--we were pretty much the only ones in--so the kids had the pool to themselves. Taking a break for lunch...our room had a full kitchen. The kids are eating leftover pizza from the night before. Then we spent some time on the half basketball court. My kids luckily love basketball and were happy to have this activity available. It was a really hot pool so of course we went right back in the pool. JiaLi has turned into quite a water monster. She is right there with the kids in the pool the entire time we were there. It is so much fun to watch. She is finally going underwater too without losing her breath:) She does not do this on her own yet but when she goes under with others, she no longer fears it:) JiaLi copying her brother. No she did not dive from the steps but she had fun pretending.

Ice Cream Making

2008-07-06T20:51:00.007-04:00

One of our neighbor's learned a recipe from her daughter's Girl Scout troop leader to make handmade ice cream, and she shared it with all the neighbors. A cream mixture is mixed in one zip loc bag and then this bag is placed in another zip loc bag of ice cubes and rock salt. I will post the exact recipe when I get it. I want to do this for Edward's birthday. The mixture is mixed by hand which gets very cold to the touch so gloves were recommended;) Then eating:) Did I mention JiaLi now pulls herself up on her own...yes, my heart goes pitter-patter every time I turn my head and see that she has done it... This last one is not related but had to post. She had her cape on and I asked her what she was doing and she said she was "SUPERMAN TO SAVE THE PANDAS!!!!"

Happy Fourth

2008-07-03T22:05:00.002-04:00

I just have not been able to post. We have been so crazy(a good crazy)with summer. Last week, we had Ice Cream Making with the neighbors, then over the weekend we had Daddy's family reunion and early this week, we were away. So needless to say, I have lots to post and I will but I am feeling guilty that I did not make 4th of July cards. The post I made earlier in June/end of May with this photo of JiaLi and everyone joking about me making a card...I seriously wanted to make one and even packed a bag of stamping supplies to make them while we were away. Just never got to it...But I found this freebie today for 4th of July and decided to put together a layout. I was going to title it "Proud to be an American";) I would post one with all the kids but I really don't have a Patriotic one of them all and since her face is so funny, (this was right after falling asleep in the car coming home from the parade)just had to put something together. We hope everyone has a fun weekend!!

A Truly Wonderful Wednesday

2008-06-27T11:52:00.008-04:00

Wednesday morning Joseph was invited over a friend's house. I drove him and then made plans with my sister for later in the afternoon. It was one of those days in the low 80s, not too hot so we(or I should say I) decided to go hiking. We have some trails right around the corner from us. We packed a lunch and a large water bottle with pink lemonade and headed off. The kids were so cute..both Danny and Edward said "this is actually fun." We were limited for time because I had to get Joseph and because we had plans with my sister but the kids now want to return. I apologize that I am posting so many at once. The photo of Jenise with the red dot on the tree is a key. We followed the red dots along the path but this particular tree was a landmark for our smaller return sidepath. When we returned to this spot, none of the kids believed that it was the tree...even with me showing the picture and matching the surroundings. Because they did not believe me, we ended up walking a little further in the other direction until we came to a location that was obviously not previously seen. We were joking about listening to Mommy;) JiaLi using her binocular eyes to spot the red dots:) Jenise joining in:) After hiking, we went to my sister's and her husband brought the kids (+me) tubing:) This time to save time, the kids doubled up. Edward is riding with one of his best buddies. This one of Joseph asking to slow down cracks me up:) Jenise rode with JiaLi and it is a good thing she did not ride alone today. She had no nap and with all the hiking, she was wiped. She almost fell asleep in the tube. Jenise had to boost her up because she let go!! Since Jenise was willing to ride with the little ones, she was able to ride on her own--and she had quite a ride!

Baseball and Bugs

2008-06-24T13:01:00.009-04:00

What is there to do at big brother's playoff game?? According to Daddy and the kids, eat sunflower seeds!! Sunflower seeds has been the thing this year for the baseball players to have and also Daddy...It drives me crazy to see them spitting the shells to the ground but I suppose it's better than other things. Danny had his last game Friday night and now Spring sports are done and with school done too(last day was the 16th), we are enjoying summer. The kids each have a camp that they are doing during the summer but we have just been enjoying being with friends and family and each other:) My favorite time of year:) When those shells are too difficult to crack, it's great to have Joseph or Jenise around to crack the shell;) And when the downpour happens during the game, it's great that Daddy parks close enough to see the game while waiting for the rain to pass AND color in the car:) Here are some photos of the girls that I took over the weekend. JiaLi's new thing is to catch bugs with her brother's bug holder. At this point, she is carrying a ladybug around. She now has a worm!! Don't let JiaLi fool you...Jenise is there to catch the bugs because JiaLi is too nervous to do it herself:) The photo below is a repeat from the collage but I just love her expression. She looks so proud to have the bug:)

All By Herself

2008-06-17T22:06:00.005-04:00

Last week on Friday, we had our last playgroup. We all went to my sister's and walked down to the beach area at her in-laws. We were lucky enough to have her FIL home who offered to take the older kids tubing. JiaLi enjoyed riding in the boat with Mommy and watching Edward on the tube. When Edward was finished, we were getting ready to get off the boat and JiaLi began to cry because she wanted a turn. I honestly don't think her want was because she "wanted" to ride the tube but more her brother did it so she "wanted" to do it too. She did it all by her self. The boat was kept nice and slow for her and she was a little uncertain at first but as the boat got faster, her smile became larger. Unfortunately I caught her with her eyes closed. We are so lucky to have family so close. Did I mention Daddy is building a treehouse? Daddy has been talking about doing this since we moved to our current home and Joseph for an art thing at school made a drawing of a tree fort that gave Daddy the urge to do it:) Now, Daddy is not an official builder but he has built some structures in his life with his Dad so he knows a little bit but it's fun that he is not an official builder and that he is just doing it with the kids. They are loving it and ask every day if they can work on it:) If you click, you can see their expressions better.

Just A Quick Post

2008-06-12T14:33:00.003-04:00

We went to visit cousins today and we got to go swimming. JiaLi only has one bathing suit(we had 2 passmedowns but they don't fit) and Auntie who is always swimming had an extra for her to borrow that no longer fits her kids. Now it's the only bathing suit she wants to wear:) I was so proud of JiaLi. It was a very last minute decision to go swimming and I was not dressed to swim so I put a vest on JiaLi for safety. She tried to swim the right way with both arms and legs:) JiaLi is making sure her cousin is o.k. in the swing and rode the swings with her but then decided pushing would be more fun. Yes, her cousin has a cast on her leg. Yes, she tried flying--off her sister's bed. Found out that she couldn't:( She is doing great though:) We are saying prayers that she does not try this again.

Birthday Party

2008-06-10T09:14:00.007-04:00

Here is JiaLi singing Happy Birthday to her cousin Catherine. It was a very hot day but that of course did not matter to the kids. They had a Moonwalk to go in:) There was lots of sweat. JiaLi found a cool spot to enjoy her ice cream cake. All of a sudden I turned around and found JiaLi learning how to hang upside down!! She was loving it:) The girls tried to chill too while eating there cake. The boys were there too but they were in the bouncy house for most of the party so I did not get as many of them. It was so hilarious to watch JiaLi in the Moonwalk. I tried to capture the height she was achieving with her jumps but really couldn't. If I was thinking clearly, I would have done a video.

Dog Walk

2008-06-02T22:08:00.005-04:00

Sunday we walked with Auntie Jen on a walk for the Baypath Humane Society which is how Auntie Jen got her dog. We were not official participants but sponsored her and she invited the kids along. To help out with the kids, we all went along. The day was beautiful. The kids talked along the walk about their dream to one day have a dog. The cousins that went do not yet have dogs in their homes(neither do we). The kids all took turns walking Hollywood. The location of the walk was right around the corner in a beautiful park that we could not believe we had never gone. We are definitely going back:) One of the booths was giving away free candy and JiaLi and cousin Rachael enjoyed their lollipops. They had a scavenger hunt for the kids to do along the walk and it was the best thing for the kids. They were so busy trying to find scavenger hunt items, they didn't realize they were walking;) There were two routes to follow. One a 1.5 mile and the other a 3 mile. We were aiming to do the 1.5 mile loop but missed the turn so we were trying to see if a different turn connected back to the location we needed. Joseph, of course, ready to tell us where to go;) The goldfish from Auntie Lisa were a great energy boost during the walk. Auntie Lisa also brought a double stroller that the 3 year olds took turns with in the back. But nothing is better than Daddy's shoulders:) Cooling off in the water. Saying good bye to Hollywood and thank you to Auntie Jen for inviting us along. It was such a great day. Here is a link to her site to check it out. Baypath Humane Society Walk

Memorial Day Parade

2008-05-28T12:11:00.005-04:00

Here is the gang at the parade on Monday. We had perfect weather over the long weekend. Daddy and Danny were complaining about it being too hot and then I reminded them how cold we were in November at the Veteran's Day parade--Mommy LOVES warmth:) Of course, Daddy worked Veteran's Day and could not appreciate what Mommy was saying;) Prior to the start of the parade, we walked to a Dunkin' Donuts for coffee for Mommy and Daddy and when Daddy found out they have kid coolattas(have no idea how to spell), he splurged and got them each one. We usually have the kids share but they each got there own:) When we got the flags for the little ones, they were told to make sure they wave them when the soldiers and the bands went by. JiaLi took that job very seriously and waved her flag for all who were in the parade. And here is the group that Dan is in. It's the Middle School Marching Band--so stinkin' cute. We are so lucky to have such a great program--the kids get their lessons right at school each day. The car ride home was not long enough for JiaLi to fall asleep but as you can see she was close;)

School Program

2008-05-26T13:11:00.005-04:00

Here is Edward all dressed-up to attend the Memorial Day Program at his school on Friday morning. The kids made hats and necklaces in school on Thursday to wear to the program Friday. Edward now goes to school in the afternoon so I was bummed he could not sit with his class--they could not all make it. His teacher was really sweet and invited him to sit with the morning class and unfortunately there was only one girl from his afternoon class that attended and his shyness kicked in and he wanted to be back with Mommy. He did still sing along with the Kindergarten kids when they sang though:) The monkey in JiaLi kicked in...of course she said, "but Mommy, now I can see." Joseph is in first grade at the same school and I was going crazy the entire program trying to find him. Luckily when they were done, one of the teachers(Jenise's first grade teacher) saw that I was looking for him and let me know where he was. Here she is with Joseph. I just love her:) She is also my neighbor a few houses down from us and the sad thing is I don't know if I ever would have met her if Jenise didn't have her for a teacher. We live on a busy road that is not kid friendly and we tend to hang out in yards instead of streets. At the end, TAPS was played by an individual on the trumpet and JiaLi got so serious and just gazed at the Flag. So sweet! We had such a nice day today...more to come:)

Hula Hooping

2008-05-23T19:03:00.005-04:00

JiaLi has been trying to learn the hula hoop:) As you can see a few weeks ago, she used the hula hoop by turning her whole body in a circle and hence losing her balance;) Last weekend, the big kids decided to time themselves using the hula hoop giving JiaLi a chance to see how it's really done. Here she is today:)

Thank You and How We Can All Help

2008-05-21T13:17:00.007-04:00

Today, JCICS did make their announcement for “A Child’s Right Campaign for Vietnam”. You will see on their web site specific instructions for contacting your local state representative. As many of you know, our good friends over at Ladybugs and Dragonflies are adopting from Vietnam. Click here to get to the web site-- that gives specific instructions and dates--we can all help. Secret Buddy, I want to thank you for the wonderful gifts this time. JiaLi is modeling our child's new froggie backpack and she is so excited for our new baby to use this to "play school" with her:) I have to apologize for the quality of the photo above. It does not do the gift justice at all. In the middle is a beautiful notepad that is such a perfect size for our home and perfect for notes too. Such a great idea for a gift and then we have a new child's cup which we are definitely going to need and those are a container of Jelly beans to the left---hence Miss Thing trying to take a look at the flavors;) Next is a beautiful card. Click on the card to read the saying. Thank you so much Secret Buddy!! JiaLi had a sleepover with her cousin this weekend and to help pass time, they had a bubble bath together. Here is JiaLi in the tub:) I will post more soon about what is happening with us in our adoption. I just want to take a few more steps.

The Kidney Walk

2008-05-20T12:38:00.006-04:00

Here are the kids in The Bean Team group. We had the Kidney Walk Sunday and the last few years it has been either rainy or overcast. This year the weather was PERFECT. We could not have had a nicer day! The whole team was started in honor of a good friend of my DH who has had a Kidney Transplant. He is our third child's godfather and we are so thankful. Now with our friend Molly having Kidney problems, we have even more reason to walk. (not that we didn't have reason but it's so different when it's someone you know.) This year the team had over 70 members to it. They have come such a long way. No, these are not swords but boys will be boys and when the girls saw what the boys were doing, of course, they had to follow course. Here is JiaLi with her cousin--my sister's family and Joe's brother's family also participate in the walk. Uncle Jeff providing JiaLi with a better view. Our friends always take individual family photos of all the families that participate and they get one large photo of everyone. Here is our partial family photo. Hanging with cousins. A large part of our motivation is our friend Molly. JiaLi wore this necklace that I placed together very last minute. So last minute that I had to use a black and white photo because my color cartridge for my photo printer was out. Just wanted to let you know we were thinking about you Molly. JiaLi did not tolerate wearing the necklace the whole day and I hung it on our stroller. I was amazed how many people came to take a closer look while it was on the stroller--lots of prayers were there:) Next year, hopefully I'll be more organized!

More from Mother's Day

2008-05-16T09:04:00.007-04:00

With our upcoming weekend, I knew that if I didn't post now, these would never get posted. Here is my Dad on Mother's Day telling a story about the watch that he is holding. All the grandchildren were listening attentively. He started with a year in 1800 that ended with the number "8" and progressed through other years such as 1928,1958 with the year being the year that the watch was passed to the next generation. Since this year is 2008 and with my Dad's dad and grandfather passing on fairly young(my Dad is much healthier), my Dad did not think he would make it to the next time a year would end with an "8" which will be 2018.(Grrrr..) He passed it on to Daniel. What a day. The 11th was also my parents 40th wedding anniversary so my Mom was beyond emotional. I need now to take the time to record each of the specific years my Dad said the watch was passed down. After that was done and we had brunch, they were outside trying to beat Pepee at a game of knockout. More photos from Joe's Mom's house. There were a total of 6 dogs at the house:) Had to post this. The only time I can get a bow in JiaLi's hair is if she has a ponytail. Here she is wearing only a bow:) I am so thankful that both Joe and I have our parents still with us and that some of our children did get to experience their great grandparents. We are also lucky to get along with each others families so well and I am also thankful for that. Secret Buddy--thank you--I will post my gifts in the next post(I just need to download the photos.) You are the best:)

Saturday

2008-05-14T09:07:00.010-04:00

Before posting more about our Sunday, I thought I would post some of our Saturday. We began at 7:45 a.m. with Edward's soccer game. Yes, the kids are drinking hot chocolate---it was cold!! Edward, however, had a smile on the whole time. JiaLi and Joseph were happy to have an open area near the field to play some football;) This is JiaLi hiking the ball to Joseph and running to catch. Next was Joseph's baseball game. This age is great--the coaches pitch and they don't keep score or stats. The kids were bundled up in blankets that were shared with them by other friends who were at the game. Joseph had very cold hands by the end of the game. JiaLi taking a break:) Next Jenise's soccer game. Daddy is playing "where's JiaLi?" It never fails...there is always bound to be some kind of dog at her game. Jenise played goalie the first half and then played on the field the second half--which was great because her first game, she played goalie the whole game. She has only had 2 games so far because of all our rainy Saturdays. Her game was so nice--we were so much more comfortable and the SUN was out:) Danny also had a game but his baseball game was not until 7:30 and with our crazy Sunday, I wanted the little ones to get some sleep. Jenise went to the game to keep Daddy company--she is the one who actually does watch the other kids games instead of looking for something else to do. Daddy did not bring the camera and to make-up for no Danny pictures, I am posting a then and now of Danny:) The first photo is me taking a picture of a picture--I was going to scan but we don't have one:) It is splotchy but it gives you the idea of how blonde his hair was. Kind of funny, both my DH and I have dark hair and when he was a baby we were always jokingly asked "where did he come from?"

Then and Now

2008-05-13T09:23:00.005-04:00

In 2006, we have no pictures of JiaLi on a horse. Joe's parents have a few animals including horses. This year JiaLi has been more involved with Gramma helping to feed the horses and watching where the horses go when they go outside. Mother's Day was beautiful and of course, Joseph asked about the horses. Last year, 2007, only the little kids were able to ride because the horse that was ridden was older and smaller. This year with the younger horse, ALL 11 grandchildren were able to ride. Last year when JiaLi rode, we could not get one smile from her, she was holding on very tightly. Now 2008,she is so much more relaxed on the horses with BIG smiles and even waving her hand(which I missed because I never expected her to do it). If you click on a photo especially the last two, you will be able to see her expression better. Mother's Day was wonderful with a very special day at my parents(more to come on why) and then more fun at Joe's parents. For those who have been asking, donations for the Kidney Foundation can be made by clicking on the black and white photo of the girls in the sidebar. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers for Molly.

Kidney Walk

2008-05-09T18:24:00.006-04:00

Our friend Molly is sick again. Molly has relapsed yet again and for no apparent reason. She is now showing classic signs of steroid dependency. It makes me so sad every time I hear that something is happening again. It just breaks my heart. I hate too how far away we are. Our family is walking the Kidney Walk for the National Kidney Foundation on May 18th. I pray that the walk and raising money helps to find a CURE for Molly!! I just wish we could do more--I can't stand it. I did provide a link in the title and in the side photo if anyone is able to help. Prayers help too. This is a picture we were able to get of JiaLi hugging Molly at the girls reunion. Molly she is sending you a BIG hug right now!!!

Spending Time at My Sister's

2008-04-30T21:54:00.004-04:00

I had to post a picture of the dog my sister was babysitting since I mentioned it in the previous post. My sister is NOT an animal person but her daughter LOVES dogs and they are lucky enough to have friends who own this old,calm, gentle dog. Otherwise my sister would not babysit;) I think it is very cute that she takes on this task for her daughter. Jessica and Joseph are above--had to catch them since they both are missing their two front teeth. We had unseasonably warm weather the end of last week which was great for the kids since they were on vacation. We spent Friday afternoon with my sister planning on just letting the kids play in the sand. Well, if allowed to stick their feet in water, of course not only will their feet get wet!! And what better way to dry off than plopping into the sandbox;)

Thank You

2008-04-28T15:12:00.006-04:00

Secret Buddy, I am so sorry that I took so long to post this. I received your wonderful gift last week and have had it set to take a picture and post. I love this book so much and cannot wait to read it to our new child. I love the Dream Post-It notes. I have lost count of how many times I have gone to the new picture to read the quote. The timing with things happening could not have been better. Thank you so much for such meaningful gifts. I had to post a photo too:) Here is JiaLi last week when my sister came to visit with the dog she was babysitting. We had warm weather so I let JiaLi hang out in the leotard she received from her cousin:)

2008-04-27T09:09:00.004-04:00

Last night my husband and Danny got home and called all the kids downstairs. Now I had just finished showering the younger ones, getting them in their pjs and settled for bed. He wanted to show them this.. For those that follow our friends Ladybugs and Dragonflies, you have an idea of what is happening with Vietnam. I have never seen a full blown rainbow like this. I've seen the ones that are a straight line down from the sky but I have never seen one like this. All we had to do last night was open our back door and take in the site.

The Pool and the Zoo

2008-04-25T12:11:00.008-04:00

It was so hard for me to narrow down the pictures. Here are just a few from the pool that cracked me up. The boys enjoyed playing with Ellen at pool time--I think because she liked the hot tub as much as they did;) And I love this photo of JiaLi with Annslee--doesn't it look like they are sharing;) I did take many other pictures but they came out blurry:( The zoo. Here Joe is trying to determine who weighs more. He thought the same:) Trying to get a group picture. Some of the girls were not too happy because there was one of those dressed-up figures and the girls were not yet ready for that. Those animals definitely need to be warmed-up to. Here we are viewing the pandas. There really is something about those animals that just warms the heart. Jenise became very close to one of the girls on the trip Lianne and we enjoyed having her with us. She is just such a sweet girl and I am so happy at how close they became on this trip. It was their first time meeting each other. Lunch time we were able to catch-up with some of the group but most were done with their lunch as we were beginning. We were so happy to catch up with Annslee:) Toward the end of the day, we were able to watch some dancers. The girls with the umbrellas attracted most of the girls to even go right up to the stage to watch. Including JiaLi but at this point she lost all energy and fell asleep. Leaving the zoo. The weather could not have been better for our day at the zoo. Here are the big girls keeping an eye on Annslee and Lauren. And have I mentioned how much Joseph loves Uncle Mark:)(of course all the kids do but there is something about Joseph and how he interacts with others) JiaLi did finally wake-up as we were exiting the zoo in time to take a photo with the dressed-up Panda. We were lucky to have Lianne come in our car:) (Joseph went in Annslee's car so we had room.) The more time the girls had, the happier they were:)

Our Trip--The Beginning

2008-04-23T21:11:00.005-04:00

Here we are at the start of our trip. We left around 4 p.m. on Thursday and we arrived shortly after 12 p.m. on Friday. I am posting the one above because JiaLi is holding Jenise's "J" pillow that she received a few years ago from her Aunt that Jenise just loves. Well, on one of the pit stops as the kids were approaching sleep, I wanted to get a diaper/pull-up on JiaLi(she still wears them when she sleeps) and in the process, we believe the pillow fell to the side of JiaLi's seat and when the van door was open, fell out:( They did fall asleep with a little nudging here and there--poor Dan was stuck between Joseph and Edward who alternated resting their heads on Danny's shoulders. Joe and I were very thankful for the coffee pit stops. I hate to drink that much coffee but I was excited at how fast we made it to Atlanta:) We got the kids lunch when we arrived at the hotel and they were giving each other cheers for making it to Atlanta:) And here we are the reason for our trip...I need to take the time to label the pictures to show the then and now. If you look at Annslee's blog, you will see similar photos labeled. I ended up on the side taking photos--I'm short and it was just an easier location;) I never realized that in the adoption of our daughter that not only would we have a daughter but a whole new family. I am so thankful that I finally got to meet everyone that was there to help Joe on his Journey to JiaLi--you all did help him! In his journal from his trip to China, he mentions each and every one of you in one way or another. Two weren't able to make the trip and were definitely missed!!

Outdoors Finally

2008-04-15T18:11:00.006-04:00

The big trip is one day away. I have been occupied with the beginning of spring sports and packing;) Actually I haven't packed anything yet. I finally went through my summer clothes and have been doing laundry and discovering that nothing fits!!! The whole growth thing. My Mom came to visit yesterday(she does that when my DH travels) and we spent the afternoon shopping. I am not a shopper but it was so pleasant to have company--it was actually fun:) JiaLi finally has a NEW pair of shoes from Grandma. She has been wearing all hand-me-downs. She also got new socks. I usually just buy white socks but I decided to get a pack of those bobby sock type with the pastel colors and right when she got home, she put on a pair of pink socks. Now she had a pink shirt on that matched perfectly and she was so proud. I was bad and did not take a picture. Last week we finally had some stable outdoor weather. I love watching these two when they play together. We had a small breeze on this day and it was perfect for the bubbles to travel and to make them chaseable. Because our yard was too wet to do some worthwhile yardwork this weekend, my DH decided to start a treehouse. He has been talking about building a treehouse since my youngest was little. In the elementary schools, the kids have a fundraiser where they draw a picture and they can make a magnet, t-shirt or whatever with the picture(I think a lot of schools do this.) Anyway, this year Joseph's (first grade)picture was a treehouse. The look on my husband's face when he heard what it was was priceless. We began by clearing an area in our backyard and the next step will be to get supplies. Hopefully when we return from our trip. I have been trying to think of things to include with the treehouse to help make it fun for the older kids too. So far I have come up with a rock climbing part but I am not real creative. I definitely need to do some searching.

Singing

2008-04-11T12:15:00.006-04:00

This video was recorded on February 29th and I have been up in the air about posting. I thought it would be nice to get a video of them singing together. As you will see, their individual personalities shine through;)

How Thankful We Are

2008-04-09T21:25:00.011-04:00

Popcorn, Pages and Pajamas

2008-04-07T12:15:00.008-04:00

A few weeks ago at the younger guys school a Popcorn, Pages and Pajamas evening was held.(I might be saying those out of order.) JiaLi will sit and sit and listen to stories on a normal basis at home, however, on this evening she had no interest. There were varying stories to choose from and the kids rotated through classes with varying teachers reading different stories. The boys chose Liar, Liar Pants on Fire for their first story and the class, when we walked in, was packed. I think that is part of the reason JiaLi had no interest--too crowded. I am glad the boys chose this story. Back in December, the school donated books to our local hospital for the kids and this was one of the stories we donated. I am glad the kids were able to hear one of the stories they donated. We hung out in the hallway with her while the boys listened to the story. They both loved it however Joseph rolled his eyes when Daddy took his picture--are you kidding me Daddy? As JiaLi hung out in the hallway trying to decide what to do, a tumbling act began. No, she does not take gymnastics--this is just an overtired JiaLi. We saved the popcorn for the end to make it a little more motivating to go home. The kids could have stayed all night if allowed. JiaLi also wasn't feeling to well--that's why she has those rosy cheeks. She is much better now though:)

Riding Her Bike

2008-04-02T23:38:00.001-04:00

JiaLi and her bike: A while back when we were at our neighbors house, JiaLi was able to use their scooter. At the time, watching her on the scooter, I had in my head to try to get one for her. Instead, we decided on a bike. We could not have made a better choice. Our driveway is inclined--uphill to the road and therefore downhill into our garage. For little legs just starting, it can be a tough hill to get up and the downhill really teaches the reason for brakes;) We also have a bike path in town that has been great for the kids and JiaLi will now be able to join them once she gets a little stronger. It's all she wants to do now when she is out. She came out to the bus stop the other day with her pj's and her helmet:) She is so determined to ride like everyone else--I cannot get over the progress she has made. Of course, it's nice when big brother watches out for you during those times when you get so distracted you forget to use brakes!!

Basketball's Done

2008-04-01T12:38:00.003-04:00

This weekend, we had a little prep for our Atlanta trip. Jenise had a tournament down the Cape and we stayed overnight at a hotel the teams from town were using. Jenise had two games on Saturday and then two on Sunday. We also had a communion on Sunday(our niece's) and Jenise's coach was nice enough to let her stay with him for the first game so that we could all go to the Communion. We waited for the phone call after the communion. If they lost, then they would be coming home and if they won, we would drive back. They won. It was such a great weekend and this year Jenise had a great team. It was just fun:) We had a blow-up mattress that worked out for most of the kids. How JiaLi amused herself during the games? Well, the first game really wasn't that crowded so she was able to move around. Right to the side of the benches, there was a small, single, wooden school chair. JiaLi thought this chair was the greatest and continually maneuvered to it. Even better when carrying a bottle of water that she could shake:) By the second game, JiaLi did fall asleep and Danny was so willing(well, not really) to hold JiaLi so that I could take a photo of the moment:) Jenise's team ended up winning(although it was a nail-biter) and as you can see, she was completely exhausted. She woke up Monday morning and all yesterday I heard "I'm so tired." Luckily today she was more herself:) All we talked about was getting to Atlanta and swimming in the pool:) We weren't able to swim this weekend because we got to the hotel way too late Saturday night and had to leave early Sunday morning but it was great to be able to say "we'll get to swim in Atlanta" :)

The Sleepover

2008-03-27T10:33:00.005-04:00

Danny's birthday was yesterday. These pictures were taken on Easter at my Mom's--she of course had a cake for him:) Yesterday too, she brought a cake! I am just being lazy and not downloading the new pictures. I will. Auntie Lisa stopped by yesterday with a gift, one of them being a Star Wars lego set. We had decent weather yesterday so the kids were able to be outside when they got home from school. As soon as they were in, Danny set to work putting it together and finished. He cracks me up how much he still loves legos:) I felt bad with both cakes--he had no chance to blow out the candles with Edward and JiaLi around;) The kids do have sleepovers at friends and cousins but whenever the weekend is here they are always asking to have a sleepover in one of their rooms. Friday night we gave in. We had such a nice night coloring eggs and I think we were in a good mood so we let them all sleep in Joseph's and Edward's room. As you can see, JiaLi was thrilled. Speaking of prayers, JiaLi said something adorable last night during prayers. Every once in a while with prayers, I have the kids say what they are thankful for. I don't do it every night because I like to catch them when they are not expecting me to ask. Of course, they always wonder. Last night was a night. JiaLi responded "I am thankful for kids because without kids Mommy and Daddy wouldn't be happy." I also like the kids to say why they are thankful for what they have said. The kids add so much happiness to our lives. They are such a dream come true:) When in a room with Jenise, JiaLi does keep her shirt on. The boys like to copy Daddy and sleep with no shirt. (Joseph did not this night because he ended up sick--a quick stomach thing.) JiaLi of course, had to join in. Luckily Jenise outgrew this;)

Searching for Eggs

2008-03-25T18:33:00.013-04:00

Way too many pictures here but I decided to do Easter all in one post:) Easter morning began with an Easter egg hunt in our home. We found all but one and right before we headed out the door, Joseph found the missing egg. Edward was definitely our most enthusiastic this year:) I always love watching the kids sort through the eggs. This year the eggs had goldfish, sugar free gum and yes, the Easter bunny placed some jelly beans in a few eggs. The Easter bunny also left hula hoops for the girls(the old ones are broken) and footballs for the boys. None of JiaLi with her hula hoop--she was more interested in playing with the plastic eggs. Grandma's and Pepee's is always fun again trying to search for those eggs. And again, 1 egg was missing but my Mom could not remember where she hid it:) Danny is placing his arms up as if to say not again;) The egg was never found. My Mom was insisting that she miscounted. Grandma spoils the kids too much. In addition to the goodies in the eggs, each received a small gift bag. JiaLi received a notebook, a Care Bear puzzle(which she has done again and again) and some snack goodies! Next, Uncle Jeff's and Auntie Amy's house:) Now here is where the kids get to see all their cousins. Eleven on Daddy's side total. Each of the kids has 18 eggs:) What is 18x11? Yes, the men hid 198 eggs in their yard. We always love this part of the day to be able to be outside:) no matter how cold it might be. The kids are sneaking a look out the window;) but Edward insists, he didn't see anything. Below the kids are waiting for Auntie Amy to give the o.k. to go out and find those eggs:) A stomp rocket was received by each family. I have a video of Jenise doing it which I will post--it's hilarious. The dog is Auntie Jen's dog, Hollywood. Because she was gone all day, she brought Hollywood along and at the end Hollywood was running around the yard with the kids:)

Easter Egg Painting

2008-03-24T11:11:00.009-04:00

We got together Friday evening with friends for our annual Easter egg coloring. JiaLi called it Easter egg painting and it definitely seemed a more appropriate word. The egg at the top is one that Daddy did for Mommy so of course all the kids tried to see how many colors they could get onto one egg. I apologize for all the pictures but it was a fun evening. After that the kids went home and had a giant sleepover(I'll post later) and then Easter at home, at Grandma's and Pepee's and at Joe's brother's. Close to 300 pictures were taken through the weekend and unfortunately not many came out:( JiaLi was the last one at the table Friday night. I'm not sure what she enjoyed more dipping the eggs in the colors or attaching the stickers:) The eggs to the left are her friend Ryan's eggs, we kept joking that night that he was the speed egg colorer--he did all those eggs in seconds. Here I am trying to get a nice photo and they all just kept making faces!! The one of the girls cracks me up with the face JiaLi is making. More to come--hope you all had a wonderful and fun weekend! BTW, secret buddy, don't worry, JiaLi knows the stuffed animal is for her new brother (or sister). We just wanted to take a group picture with thoughts of our child on-the-way, however far that may be.

Easter Rabbit

2008-03-20T18:44:00.005-04:00

We have not had many opportunities to hunt for Easter eggs because we have not had the greatest of weather. However, we have been talking about hunting for Easter eggs Easter morning and at Grandma's and Pepee's and at Auntie Amy's and Uncle Jeff's. Joseph came home today with a blue egg which he received from the Easter bunny. The Easter bunny visited his classroom and filled the kids Easter baskets(pencil, glue stick and an egg with a small toy). JiaLi this afternoon wanted to play Easter rabbit, and Joseph was kind enough to share his egg. Of course, we had to fill the egg(we added some cheerios), and then JiaLi and I took turns playing the Easter bunny. I think JiaLi ate the Cheerios before we even started;) She was so funny--every time it was her turn to hide the egg, I walked back in the room and she told me exactly where it was:) The video is JiaLi finally locating one that Mommy hid. Mommy wasn't so nice in telling but I did give her clues like if she was hot or cold to it's location:)

Wacky Wednesday

2008-03-19T21:03:00.009-04:00

Each year in the kids' schools the elementary schools do many Dr.Seuss activities in March. The Kindergarten classes always have a Wednesday that they call Wacky Wednesday. Today was Edward's class day to celebrate Wacky Wednesday. In the morning, we were trying to figure out how to dress to be wacky. I did take a picture of Joseph last year on his Wacky Wednesday day. He wore a striped shirt, had short pants, different colored socks and spiked hair. Edward kept saying "I want to dress like Joseph did." He was able to find a striped shirt which he wore inside out and backwards, jeans with holes that are just too short, different colored socks, and he even wore two different shoes. (Not sure how he tolerated that with one of the shoes being Joseph's but luckily he's only half day;) If you click you can see, however I did over correct to bring out the stripes so it will appear blotchy. Well, of course, JiaLi had to dress Wacky for Wacky Wednesday! She wore her shirt backward and wore two different socks and two different shoes--which lasted about a half hour.(she is usually barefoot) She thought it was the funniest thing and told everyone she saw today that it was Wacky Wednesday. If you click here, you can see Joseph last year. This is my fourth year preparing for a Wacky Wednesday and I have yet to read the book. Edward described the story as so funny and that "you have to read it Mommy." Next on our reading list... These two pictures are add-ons. Speaking of Wacky, I couldn't resist posting these. I took these yesterday--before we even knew that today would be Wacky Wednesday;) JiaLi found this Strawberry hat in the girls room. This hat was given to Jenise when she was a baby and it really does look adorable on babies. JiaLi just thinks this hat is the greatest thing. We had a very rainy day today and she wanted to wear "her" hat so she wouldn't get wet! Had to explain first that it does belong to Jenise and second, won't quite protect. I actually used this hat when Jenise was a baby for her first Halloween and dressed her up like a strawberry. It's funny how the hat can be adorable in two different ways:) I need to find the picture!!(it's taken with a 35 mm and it's in one of my boxes!)

Big Kids Weekend

2008-03-18T14:11:00.004-04:00

Danny's birthday is in March and Jenise's is in February. I was initially going to schedule a sleepover for Jenise and her friends and then try to organize a "boy" type thing for Danny and his friends. Time kept passing by and things kept coming up and finally we decided on something different. We had each of them choose one friend(they each are lucky enough that the decision was easy to choose) and we brought them to a nearby Mall(about an hour away) that has a very large type game room/arcade. This mall is pretty impressive. The boys immediately went to the game room with Daddy and the girls and I did a little shopping and then went to the game room. I took many pictures on this day but I am only posting Dan and Jenise:) I took these at the start of our day. Jenise was giddy and when I asked her to give Dan a hug, she was more than willing. We had such a great day. When we returned home, I was trying to figure what would be good for the boys and what would be good for the girls. It was great. They all hung out together:) And they all got along(for the most part--Danny and Jenise did have their sibling moments.) I was so happy we decided to do this--it made it special for both of them to celebrate together. Here are more from the Easter dress trying day. I have been showing these to Jenise joking with her hoping that maybe she will be willing to wear a dress. Hasn't motivated her yet. Although, she and a friend have been talking about when they are older and able to go to a prom. She has been saying that she wants to go to the mall instead. Well...on Saturday, the first store we cut through to get into the mall had a display of prom dresses. Daddy and the boys had to pause to wait for the girls;) When I explained to Jenise that the dresses were for proms, she was so cute and said "I didn't know that." Luckily we still have more years before we need to worry about this;) My goal over the next few weeks is to update my blog. If you are not in my sidebar--you soon will be!--I want to add all of you who I have recently met. I love your comments and love all your blogs and I need to make it a click away for me to visit you!

A Half Day

2008-03-14T19:58:00.004-04:00

The kids had a half day of school one day this week and the boys were thrilled that Mommy was able to babysit the neighbors for the afternoon. The top picture is taken through a screen--it just got too cold outside and Mommy and JiaLi had to go in;) Jenise was invited over a friend's and when she left, Joseph yelled out "yes, it's all boys!!" Poor JiaLi got all sad and told him and I mean told him in her demanding voice(yes she has one)"it's not all boys!!" Lucky for us girls, my sister was working and her babysitter brought the kids over:) JiaLi could not have been more happy! I just love how Jessica is looking at JiaLi in the photo below--my sister's kids are so sweet:) Today they were over for playgroup and most of the group had left and Jessica wasn't sure what to do so JiaLi asked her if she wanted to play in her room(they like to build tents/forts) and Jessica was more than willing. As they were going up the stairs, JiaLi still had food in her mouth(she had been eating a bagel) and Jessica said to her "now make sure you chew what's in your mouth." It was just adorable! The girls though do like to play with their boy cousins too:) I love editing with Picasa--so much better:) We have been given clothes for JiaLi from so many of our friends and family. I can't get over how lucky we have been. I honestly have not had to buy a thing. One morning this week, I had JiaLi try on some dresses that were passed down. So once again, I grab the camera and what does she grab but a matchbox car. I still thought the picture was so sweet. Almost could imagine the car as a flower or something girly;)

Can't Thank You Enough Secret Buddy

2008-03-13T12:07:00.006-04:00

Secret Buddy,thank you, thank you, thank you. We love everything you sent our way. This is my first time receiving a Secret Buddy gift and I can't get over how touched I was. The gifts are just perfect. First off, that card with the saying about children being a reward from Him is so true. I love sayings/quotes and this will always be saved. Definite scrapbook item but for now I have it in a frame:) Look at all these goodies. I love the bunny and the frame. I cannot wait to fill it with a picture of our new little one. I have always wanted a child photo album and with our kids I never got one. I am so happy to have one for our newest. These gifts bring such hope for the adoption, I really can't thank you enough. As I was taking the picture, JiaLi noticed right away that the candy included 2 ladybugs and 3 bees--how perfect is that?? Yes, that is her hand trying to get one. THANK YOU! Had to fix the layout from the last post. Connie, thank you for your advice. This is so much easier on the eyes. I totally forgot that Picasa has a photo adjusting area. I love all that you can do--I have been having fun trying to play with some other pictures:)

Get Together With Cousins

2008-03-10T20:57:00.010-04:00

Last weekend we had a get-together with Joe's side of the family to celebrate one of the cousins' birthday. The kids just love seeing each other. It is so great that they get to see each other as often as they do living within miles of each other. I remember growing up one of the cousins who was my age, lived over an hour away and for my family that was a long drive. I think I saw her 2-3 times a year but I always remember cherishing the time with her. I love that my kids can see their cousins with such ease. They have so much fun together:) JiaLi got her hands on her cousins' laptop and thought it was the greatest thing and did not want to be bothered. As you can see, she was very focused. (the battery wasn't even working.) hmmmm, is she checking out blogs??? I know one of the first things you read when you start digital scrapbooking is about the quality of pictures. Now, these photos in those standards are horrible--way too dark and they are adjusted but I couldn't resist posting this layout. I might reuse it for an Easter layout that hopefully will come out with a more visible photo.

SHHHH...don't tell

2008-03-05T21:41:00.003-05:00

I couldn't resist posting these. These two were cracking me up one day last week:)

I guess Spring is waiting...

2008-03-01T14:53:00.009-05:00

Isn't it now March? I know snow does come in March but ahhhh!! Of course the kids don't mind at all. We had a good amount of snow last night and today it warmed up enough so that when the kids were playing outside, our fingers/toes didn't get numb:) Now could anyone resist this question?? Daddy sure couldn't:) One of our neighbors has one of those snowball makers and JiaLi enjoyed filling it up and being able to make a snowball on her own!

A Post Just to Post

2008-02-27T21:29:00.005-05:00

The picture again--I can't help it, it's my new favorite. Last weekend on Saturday, Daddy let Mommy have time to work. With all the snow we've been having and with Easter right around the corner, I had to work on Spring things, and I couldn't wait to get this picture up:) Here's one of the things I accomplished. This is one of those plain wooden frames they sell in craft stores for $1. I am just in such a mood for some SPRING!! While I was working, the kids played outside while Daddy shoveled the driveway. They came in all excited because they had been having snowball fights and built forts. Now when I heard fort, I was picturing this creation with ways to maneuver,etc. I went to take a look and what they had done was built two mountains of snow and used the mountains to hide from the oncoming snowballs. I need to remember tomorrow to take a picture. We actually went out to a restaurant last weekend! I am usually boring and more into the ordering in if we are going to get something. This weekend, we went out. My son is rolling his eyes at me for taking pictures in a restaurant. Oh well:) As you can see, everyone was entertained by the crayons prior to our meal. Everyone that is except our oldest...he was willing though to help Joseph with a word search and to play tic tac toe with the others--I did get a picture but for some reason it's not letting me post. hmmmmm... This is a silly post but I had to post these three eating their meal. Jenise ordered ribs just because she likes them and same for Dan. But, Edward just loves his big brother so much and will copy most of what he does. Of course, he always says that he said it or did it before Danny but we just have to laugh. A final picture of JiaLi showing off her new ladybug hair clip. If I had been thinking about what day today is, I could have used this for "Wordless Wednesday". One of these weeks, I'll remember.

A Loose Tooth

2008-02-25T20:56:00.006-05:00

The kids had their February school vacation last week. We did some things but it was more the kids being invited over friends houses for playdates/sleepovers/etc. Our house was boring except for getting together with Jenise's Science Fair partner to get their project done(two days of this and then individual work in between). The first get-together we really wanted to get things done and we did but all the kids were wiped. Jenise's partner's family is a family of 4 kids and they all came over with their Mom while the Moms and girls tried to work--yes my house was torn apart. But at least the others had fun. The next day, I felt so bad because Jenise's brain was mush and the kids just needed to get out. So we loaded up around noontime to head somewhere. We ended up at a Mall--I know real original but we really don't get to the mall that often so for the kids it was a big deal. We had not had lunch so stopped to get a snack(and coffee) to hold the kids over. JiaLi had no problem eating or drinking:) Well, maybe prior to the straw, but what's a slushy type drink without a little mess:) Now, I did not want the mess to end up on her jacket sleeve!!! The napkins are on the table--I can't stand when my kids do this!! I need a buzzer on their sleeves!! A little neater using a straw. As she says, ahhh that was good;) I am posting this picture of Joseph because a few weeks ago he lost the top tooth to his left and all vacation we watched him wiggle and twist and basically play with his tooth to the right to try to get it out--no success... While at the mall, we were either going to take the kids to the arcade or shop. The kids have been helping with a lot of the chores around the house and they earn money each time they help with the BIG house cleaning--where we basically go through dusting, vaccuuming, cleaning everywhere. They do such a great job. We opted for shopping:) The boys and JiaLi shopped in the Lego store and Jenise decided to shop at Build-A-Bear. She has two Build-A-Bears from birthdays and decided to get an outfit--the jeans, purple shirt and cap. When we got home, she gave JiaLi one of her bears so that they each now have one:) Had to take a picture. Back to Joseph. Here he is tonight with his wiggly tooth:) Carrots for dessert--didn't work. But with a little motivation--he wanted to talk to Daddy and tell him how wiggly his tooth was. Mean Mommy said that Daddy already knows it's wiggly and if he wanted to tell him something new it should be that his tooth came out. He twisted and twisted and got it out. (Mommy did the last yank.) No blood:) It was ready. While taking a picture, of course, the others wanted to be in the picture. It cracks me up because Daddy whenever he smiles, smiles with a closed mouth. Joseph is back to his regular smile in that last picture not even showing the missing tooth. Now will the tooth fairy come?? I told him we would have to see if it was too late or not and we would know in the morning and if not, she will come tomorrow. Then JiaLi, as I was kissing her good night asked, "Do I have any wiggly teeth?"

A Random Post

2008-02-22T19:37:00.006-05:00

These are pictures that I took a few weekends ago while visiting my Mom. I figure if I don't post them now, I will never post them. My Mom always has some sort of different danish or muffin or something for the kids to snack on and this time in the mix, she had cinnamon rolls. As you can see, each of the girls enjoyed them:) The rest of the pictures are just some new favorites:) I am so excited how the last one of the girls came out. Now I just need to learn how to work better with lighting and flash and choice of how to take a picture on our camera. (well, everything--my DH keeps telling me to read the book that our camera came with, but I just want to take pictures!!!---I know, he's right.) Sorry for the title in this page--Nothing like a sister. I know so many are waiting to say this and you will. I just love watching these girls together. Jenise is so not girly sometimes and when I watch her with JiaLi, it's a whole other side of her that just warms my heart.

More Birthday

2008-02-20T09:20:00.004-05:00

After singing Happy Birthday to Grandma, we sang Happy birthday to Jenise. That Grandma. She's the one that brought the cake. You would think the get-together was for Jenise and it was supposed to be for my Mom!! Chocolate cake is the best:) We weren't sure who was more excited--Jenise's cousin Jessica or Jenise. Jessica loves, loves, loves dogs and part of their gift to Jenise was a Webkin poodle. She came over yesterday and right away was asking to see "Black Magic":) JiaLi is trying to reach that platter---filled with candy and brownies. It was so funny my Aunt looked at my Uncle all of a sudden with JiaLi on his lap and she commented "she's letting you sit on her lap". He replied "I gave her a brownie:)" The following pictures are from Monday. Even though it was pouring rain, it was 60 degrees. JiaLi decided to wear her bathing suit and all morning was asking to go in the pool. (She was serious and not being silly.) At least now I know, she needs a new bathing suit for our Atlanta trip. The sweatpants are covering the non-fitting parts:)

Another Double Digit Child

2008-02-18T17:38:00.008-05:00

Saturday, Jenise turned 10. With the kids' school vacation being this week, I was hoping to have a small party for Jenise with her friends but she has so much happening this week(science project, basketball...) that we couldn't schedule it. I am planning on one in March--I've been promising her a sleepover!! Saturday, I wanted to do a little something so we went to our favorite store--Target:) She chose some earrings, a Disney CD and an American Girl Quiz book(she loves these books). Above she is listening to it and JiaLi is dancing away. For supper, we had Tacos:) We were going to go out for dinner but Jenise really wanted to watch the movie I talk about below so we stayed in and made tacos--all the kids loved them--I'm not sure if they enjoyed eating them or making them more:) Please don't ask about this so called cake. We were out earlier this week at a concert for Danny and it was a late night and a rushed dinner and I had promised the kids a different snack for their help. Well, on the way home, Daddy ran into the corner store and came out with a box of these. We had some left and Daddy created a cake. (Sunday we got together for my Mom's birthday and my Mom brought a cake for Jenise so she did get a cake.) Pippi Longstocking, yes, that is the movie. Here is the story. In our neighborhood, we have a Christmas Elf who at Christmas goes crazy and gets all the kids books. This year Jenise's book was Pippi Longstocking. Jenise needs a very good book to read if she is going to read(she is into Beverly Cleary right now). Well, this book, she flew through:) When she was 3-4 years old, we had purchased the Pippi Longstocking video and it was buried in the back of our video cabinet. When she finished the book, I told her that we have the movie and since her birthday was right at the beginning of vacation, she had asked to watch the video on her birthday. I dug it out and the kids watched it. We had to watch it upstairs because our downstairs does not have a video hookup. (never thought videos would be old-fashioned)

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T10:31:00.008-05:00

Look what we got in the mail:) This came yesterday and it is the very first bow JiaLi has ever kept in her hair. I placed it in her hair yesterday morning and it didn't come out till bedtime:) Thank you to the Waala Family for such a great bow! Jenise wore it to school today:) I also want to thank Laura for telling me about the swap and Nancy for running the swap:) Daddy is at it again! He sent each of the girls a rose--they were so surprised when the flowers came:) Sooo cute! He sent me flowers too--I received a rose surrounded by mini carnations and mini daisies--I don't know why but I have always liked the mini carnations--maybe because they don't die so fast. JiaLi wanted to smell the baby's breath(not sure about the spelling) too:) She smelled and then said,"Yummy!" Soo, I made this post prior to bringing Edward to his bus and while at the bus stop, I was thinking about this page and thought it would be appropriate to add for today:)

Stamping and Rollerblading

2008-02-11T22:15:00.000-05:00

My very focused girl stamping her Valentines. At least once a month, I try to hold some type of Stamping Workshop and with Valentine's Day right around the corner, I held a Kids' Valentine Stamp Camp. The girls(yes it was all girls) made 25 mini Valentines and 25 lollipop heart flower things. Jenise's games are usually on Sundays but this Sunday she did not have a game making it perfect to hold the camp. (All the girls like Jenise to be there.) When everyone was gone, JiaLi of course sat down to work on her Valentines. She made enough for all our Hubei friends and maybe 1 or 2 others. I have to confess, I was so thankful that she stamped these. Back in January, when Joe was away, I was on-line ordering pictures and such and saw this really cute Valentine thing and I broke my usual path and ordered just enough for our Hubei friends(when you receive them you will see what I mean) I have to say though I had a horrible feeling because I didn't make them. So everyone will also be receiving a handmade card by JiaLi:) She made me feel so much better:) She really didn't want to hold her card up and in the next picture she is really wishing I would leave her alone so she could get her cards done;) Jenise was more than willing to share a card. I think she enjoyed the day--especially being able to have a weekend without running around to a game. Edward loves to color and there were two cards that were stamped ahead of time for the kids to just color. He helped out with those:) With the indoor weather, one thing we got done was straightening out the basement. With a basement that has an open floor and no toys to trip over, what better to do than get rollerblades on:) JiaLi is at the point now where she just slides them right on. I love that she wears a helmet without prompting. Just FYI, the background behind the kids being silly was like that when we moved here. Joe is not a big fan but it cracks me up because it really looks like they splattered paint on the one wall. Our basement is a future endeavor but hey, the wall is different:)

Last Weekend

2008-02-09T20:58:00.000-05:00

Now, why do I say "Daddy helps to lighten the mood"?? Well, let me give you a close-up of the pictures that are in the heart envelopes. First we have Jenise questioning a call made. Then we have the loving siblings trying to get the basketball. Yes, they were playing basketball and not football!! I was so thankful when Daddy and our neighbor decided to join the kids. These pictures are from last Sunday. We had such nice weather that day. We were actually seeing grass. But now, not so much. We are back with snow--although not a lot, just enough to remind us it is winter. JiaLi pretty much did her own thing. The scooter belongs to our neighbor. But she did such a good job, maybe we will have to see if the Easter bunny could help her out:) BTW, we are official. Our letter came today and we are on the Waiting List. We are now officially a Waiting Family.

More New Year

2008-02-08T13:44:00.000-05:00

Even though we didn't go out for a Chinese meal or do anything real New Year related, JiaLi was still thrilled about the day. She walked around all day humming, "It's the Chinese New Year", "It's the Chinese New Year!" I know it's not just the Chinese New Year but for this year and for JiaLi's understanding, that's what we are calling it:) I was talking to the kids about what is happening in China with all the snow and JiaLi yelled out "Hey, that is where I was born!" In the first photo, JiaLi is counting her Red Lucky Envelopes to see if there is enough for all the kids at the bus stop.(not that she is counting that high yet but she felt better trying to make sure) She was thrilled to pass out the envelopes to the kids and say "Happy New Year" to everyone. I thought the envelopes had chocolate coins but instead had pretend gold coins. I thought the older kids would be turned off, but they thought it was the coolest thing. I honestly think it was because JiaLi gave them--the whole neighborhood loves her:) And yes, she gave some to her brothers and sister and even Danny when he got home later. She was very concerned that everyone received one. You are probably wondering what this Star cupcake is. Well, it was my sister's day today for playgroup and in honor of the New Year she made star cupcakes to celebrate. I just love her:) My sister was so cute making these cupcakes for the kids to celebrate and to recognize the New Year. I was so touched. It's official,I signed JiaLi up for preschool today. I am thrilled for her to begin but also sad. The fall will be my first time not having a child home with me. I know, how dare I say that, I know I am so lucky and blessed--I just love having the kids around. I have thought about home schooling before but I just don't feel like I could do an adequate enough job. I am looking forward though to being a little more involved in the kids' schools. I'm actually really excited to participate in JiaLi's classroom with the traditional holidays. I heard a lot of Moms talking about how a Mom in their kids' class went in to celebrate the New Year with the kids doing a craft or something. I can't wait to do this:) I especially can't wait to make those country cookies that Laura showed:)

Happy New Year

2008-02-07T08:27:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to say "Happy New Year!" I would say it in Chinese but I don't want to print it the wrong way. These two were very willing to dress for the day. Jenise actually started the trend coming in this a.m. asking if she could wear one of her Chinese shirts. She got all dressed up and then remembered that she is starting a volleyball activity at school and the shirt just wouldn't be appropriate. Edward and JiaLi were totally willing to follow and get dressed for the occasion:) Edward is wearing a t-shirt that Daddy got in China(Double Happiness) for all the kids--Edward is wearing Jenise's and JiaLi is wearing an outfit that Daddy got in China for Joseph. Now I know they look silly but when I was taking their picture they decided to yell out "Happy New Year to you" which then progressed to "Happy Year of the Rat". Sorry I posted so many pictures. I was going to narrow down but I just kept hitting that button to choose pictures:)

The Last Few Days

2008-02-06T11:30:00.000-05:00

Now what will Grandma have today?? My Mom cracks me up. Whenever we leave her house, she is always giving the kids a snack. Today was special--not one but TWO lollipops. JiaLi was just a little excited:) We got home just in time to wait for the kids. Danny gets home first and entertained JiaLi while Mommy put things away. Yesterday, Edward was home with a stomach bug AGAIN!!! I feel so bad. I think he is just susceptible to getting them:( He was feeling much better today. His teacher wants the kids practicing writing letters so we did a little practice this a.m. He wanted to write his whole name. People always wonder why we want another child, asking "don't you have enough?" Well, look how easy it is when the kids help to teach lessons. The video is Edward helping JiaLi to spell her name. O.k. so Mommy had to help a little--but I need to be a part of the process too;)

While at Jenise's Game

2008-02-03T18:01:00.000-05:00

Today at Jenise's basketball game, we only had Joseph and JiaLi. The others were visiting my Mom with my sister. My Mom just had surgery to remove a mucocele near her appendix. She will find out in two weeks the status of it but they say most likely it is benign. We are praying anyway that it is. My day to visit is tomorrow. Anyway, at the game, Daddy likes to occupy the kids with a lollipop. I always joke with him that he is ruining their teeth. Although in JiaLi's case, she only takes a few licks and then is done with it--we'll see how long that lasts. While at her game, I also got some cute shots of Daddy and JiaLi and decided to play with the program Connie recommended. I am in total trouble--it is very addicting. Here is my basic layout but I can't get over how much can be done! I was telling Joe that our next purchase is going to have to be a 12x12 printer;) I didn't want to say anything because I'm not into bragging but then my DH said it is o.k. to say things. I suppose here in blogland it's o.k. My daughter's team played an undefeated team today. Both teams played outstanding. My daughter's team was ahead by 1 point, then Jenise hit two foul shots bringing them up by three with only a few seconds left and the other team came and scored a shot at the buzzer bringing them to one point. If Jenise did not make both foul shots, the game would either have been overtime or the other team would have won. The girls were so cute saying "we finally won a close game!" Yes, they are only in 4th grade but boy was my heart beating during the game!!

Today

2008-02-01T18:44:00.000-05:00

Today was my day to hold the playgroup and even though we don't always do a craft,I couldn't resist. With the Chinese New Year happening next week, I wanted to do something related. I had ordered party favors for Jenise's birthday and supplies for the boys school treasure box from Oriental Trading a while ago and when I ordered I ordered these frames for the kids to make. The kids had a choice of the happiness symbol, health or good luck. JiaLi wanted to make each of them. She colored and Mommy put it together. Here she is showing Daddy what she made. Then she hung one on her bedroom door, one on Mommy's and Daddy's door and one on our main door. She was very proud. (I hope it's not bad luck that the decorations are up--I think we are supposed to be in the cleaning phase right now.) I read a lot about the Chinese New Year last year. After that the kids played but they of course had to have a snack. With Groundhog day tomorrow, I was so excited to find this cute thing to make a groundhog. It's a chocolate frosted cupcake, then the ears are vanilla wafers, the eyes are M&Ms and the teeth are mini marshmallows(although in my photos, they sort of look like eyes). I don't know why my cupcake picture is so small. I did crop it from another photo but I think the photo was resized for the blog already and the cupcake came out mini. The kids enjoyed it though:) Now the question is Will the groundhog see his shadow? By the way, JiaLi does have other clothing as you can see in the bottom photo. She is wearing the same shirt she had on last Saturday. The kids had "Patriots" day at their schools today and wore their Patriots shirts and of course, JiaLi wanted to join in. I told her to save it till after the chocolate frosted cupcake:)

Ball Handling Class

2008-01-30T12:14:00.000-05:00

Our weekends have now been pretty much occupied by basketball and birthday parties. Danny's game are on Saturdays and Jenise's games are on Sundays. In our town, basketball starts in 2nd grade making the others too young. I was thrilled when one of the gym teachers in town offered a "Ball Handling" class for kids in Kindergarten and 1st grade. He offers it through the Community Program(same program JiaLi had the Music Class through back in the fall). The kids simulate different sports like soccer, basketball, tennis and so on. I have been taking the boys on Saturday mornings while Daddy stays with the others. This Saturday, Daddy had a meeting and could only take the older guys so I had JiaLi for company at the class. Of course, I finally brought my camera. Joseph is so serious in this class, while Edward is Mr. Layed Back and just goes along with the flow with a smile the whole time. He just cracks me up. Jiali was entertained by her Tinker Bell Crazy 8s game and her peanut butter and crackers snack. No photos of that. I didn't really take the greatest of pictures because I was trying to keep JiaLi off the gym floor!!

Girl Time

2008-01-28T20:37:00.000-05:00

Well, probably not what you were all visualizing when I said we went "girl" shopping but believe me, in our family, this was a girls' day out! Jenise had two birthday parties last weekend and we wanted to get just a little something to go with one of the gifts that she got so we headed to Bath and Body Works. With all the after Christmas sales, we of course had to make some personal purchases. The girls were very happy with the flavor they found and as soon as we got in the car were asking to put some on. JiaLi immediately rolled up her pants to get some on her legs. With no boys around, I just had to say yes:) (even if boys were there, I would still say yes) Jenise is always thrilled to help JiaLi with things of this nature. It will be very interesting as they grow. JiaLi is already trying to get into Jenise's things i.e.nail polish! Since they weren't really dressed "girly" I thought I would share these photos. JiaLi was playing "Mom and Dad" with Jenise this Friday, and they for some reason had to get dressed up. I love this dress and would like to have her wear it at some point. But you know, I finally get the camera and what does she pick up but one of Joseph's tools. In the bottom picture, the blurred object is Joseph's hammer. She wanted to fix something. The girly moments are very short-lived in our house;) Thanks for all the comments on the video. Joe did that post:) He was teaching me how to use the video portion of our camera--wow is it ever easy!! And then he was showing me how to post a video to the blog--now that I know how to do it, I feel so silly!

Just Hanging Out

2008-01-26T19:44:00.000-05:00

We filmed this last week before we got sick, (lot's of things got left behind when we were sick). This has so many of JiaLi's traights we just had to share... We hope you find it as amusing as we do, sorry it is kind of long, thanks for watching

Our Diet This Week--Popsicles

2008-01-25T12:02:00.000-05:00

It all began last Thursday with Danny. He had a friend who was going to sleep over and they were playing and then it came time for dinner. Danny sat down at the table and could not even hold his head up and was all shades of grey. I felt him and he was on fire. To be official, I got a thermometer and he was 102.8. Danny is rarely sick. His friend went home and Dan went to bed. Danny was miserable the rest of the weekend but was better for school. Come Saturday, Edward began with complaints of a headache and he also had a fever. His resulted in also a stomach bug.(no details here) With the boys sick, Jenise had a birthday party Saturday evening and I took the girls girly shopping--I was so excited to post these. But Sunday came and Mommy got it. I gotta say, I know we are lucky that it was just a cold and that it is nothing serious and that we will get over it. I know there are poeple out there with much worse things. But this just knocked me out. I ended up with what Edward got and I was on my back for close to 3 days with the getting up where absolutely needed. Daddy got it Monday with the same result. JiaLi did get the fever for 1/2 a morning and fought through it. now though she just has those flushed cheeks and yucky cold. Joseph came down with it Monday night also. Jenise stayed healthy(I think because she had experienced it back in Dec.) Jenise is eating ice cream--she was the only one tolerating ice cream and we wanted to conserve our popsicles;) Happy and thankful to say we are now functioning. I can honestly say Thank God for popsicles!

At Play

2008-01-17T14:39:00.000-05:00

This weekend the kids have an extra long weekend because the teachers have a professional day Friday. Tonight we are having company and some of the kids friends are sleeping over. So of course this morning, I needed to do that cleaning that does not always get done. While cleaning, JiaLi got out her cooking things and began cooking:) She just cracks me up because she is so serious about her play and really gets into the cooking. Of course, she can be a wiseguy too--here she is pretending to pour juice from her cup into whatever she was using. (something she is not supposed to do) She is showing her true "bedhead" here--but I still think she's cuter than ever:) O.k. now we are dressed and our errands are done. So what does JiaLi want to do before the kids get home. Play making coffee for Dunkin' Donuts:) Couldn't resist posting the last picture.

Snow Day-FINALLY

2008-01-15T11:57:00.000-05:00

O.k. you are probably wondering why I say finally. With all the snow we have had, the kids have not been able to benefit because the snow has occurred either in the evening or on the weekend so that no school has been missed. Well, yesterday the snow occurred in the evening and went into the day so that the kids were home from school:) JiaLi was thrilled. When the kids were first out, they were digging in the snow with the intention of building walls/forts with the idea being to hide behind them for snowball fights. What can I say, my kids are not always lovey-dovey;) For some reason, Edward and Joseph team-up and Dan and Jenise team-up. Doesn't seem fair but they work well with each other. Well, when Daddy came out for a lunch break, then the real fun began. The boys decided to move to another area and continue building but Daddy built a high hill for momentum and then a pathway for the sleds. As you can see by Jenise it was great. Well, her first run went astray but in the next one she went flying. JiaLi has the benefit of being small enough to sled with Daddy. I'm not sure who had more fun but JiaLi's expression in the last photo says it all. I really wish I could capture her whole face but with all these layers to stay warm it's not easy;)

Pirates??

2008-01-13T19:53:00.000-05:00

No, I don't encourage the use of swords. JiaLi went to Story Time at our local library last week and they read a pirate related story(actually more about taking a bath--very cute book). For the craft, they made a pirate hat and an eye patch. This worked out great for Edward--one for JiaLi and one for Edward. They did alternate but of course, Edward wore the pirate hat the remainder of the afternoon. The "swords" are actually part of a "drum" thing the kids got for Christmas from aunts and uncles but hey when the batteries die--it's always great to find some use. They knew if I saw them swinging the "swords" that I would take them. In our town, for Kindergarten, the kids can attend full day or half-day but of course to attend full day, you need to pay. Although it's not an outrageous fee, it's still money and with the adoption and other expenses, we opted to have Edward go the half-day. I have to confess, I am happy about the half-day deal because it gives JiaLi and Edward time with each other. When they are with each other without the older siblings around, they play so well together. They always crack us up:)

While Playing a Game...

2008-01-09T20:21:00.000-05:00

This is just a random post, but we got together with friends over the weekend to talk about our trip to Florida in October. I am the party pooper in the group because I am worried about Jenise and Edward missing too much school so our stay is limited compared to the other couples. We have our dates set and now just need to decide where to stay. While we got together, the kids played. The older kids were playing checkers and left it out so the younger guys decided to play. While playing, JiaLi decided to get up and dance a little jig. (She likes to dance). Her friend was not too happy with her for getting up in the middle of the game and decided to go do something else. Lucky for her patient cousin Catherine moved in for the game:)

She Loves Legos

2008-01-07T20:12:00.000-05:00

Whether it's a car, a ship, a dog, or a tower or whatever else comes to mind, JiaLi loves Legos! These are random pictures that were taken yesterday. First she stashed a few legos to bring in the car. She enjoyed flying her rocket--I know it looks like a dog--which is what she usually says she has built "a dog with shoes" but when I took the picture it changed to a rocket:) Usually in the evening when all the kids are in pjs, we take turns reading with the kids. We usually begin with Edward and JiaLi because the others are pretty independent but we still like to read with them. While we were reading with the others, JiaLi and Edward decided to occupy themselves with legos. I just love watching them play together. They are just so sweet. The other day, Edward and JiaLi were looking at something from a while ago and Edward commented "that was before we were born...I was in Mommy's belly" and then JiaLi said, "I know, I was in China in Daddy's belly" then Edward said "but you were in Mommy's heart and I was in her belly but I was in her heart too and that's why we're friends." Gotta tell you, he melted my heart. Yes, to her side while sleeping, she had legos:)

How We Brought the New Year In

2008-01-01T19:22:00.000-05:00

We have not had huge amounts of snow but with the snow on top of previous snow, it makes it appear that we have had a good amount. I suppose we have. I am not one to drive in the snow nor do I like the cold. I am a total summer person. However, Daddy is always quite willing to help the kids out. When Daddy was done with work yesterday, he took the kids out and helped to make a sledding area on the side of our yard. The kids loved it and today with the cold last night and the snow that happened earlier on top of it, it made a great runway. Of course, Daddy also obliged JiaLi and helped her to build a snowman. Jenise was right there with her helping to give the final touches. I tried to get a photo of JiaLi with the snowman but she was not cooperating. I really wish I could break her of the habit of eating the snow. Grrrrr...To be honest the others do it too!! Wanted to wish everyone a very Happy 2008 and many blessings!! BTW, I don't know why but we are always losing hats. If the hat appears to not fit JiaLi--you are right, it does not. She is borrowing Jenise's. I need a better hat/mitten holder.