Horvet Happenings

It's Time for Cooking With Caroline

2011-07-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

This is the newest Food Network Star. Ok, maybe she has a few years yet, but I'm telling you, she's got the personality! She doesn't even flinch when her brother is screaming at the computer in the background. She just keeps going! What a pro!

Of course, my personal favorite part is when she says, "My mom is a brilliant and fascinating girl."

2011-07-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

We had two Chinese girls staying with us over the last 12 days. Luna and Vincens were delightful young women who enjoyed staying with us and especially enjoyed my chicken fried rice dish. Yessiree, this Italian girl can make Chinese chicken fried rice!

Farewell party with Luna and Vincens.

Caroline's tooth came out at the party shortly after this photo was taken.

The group of students and their families.

Off they go to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, DC, Boston, and home to China!

How We Spent Our 4th of July Holiday

2011-07-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

Here's how we spent our 4th of July holiday:

We picked - and ate - lots of cherries from Grandma's tree:

We had water cannon fights.

And made our own little hot tub, albeit with cold water:

Peter decided to try it. Notice the extreme water displacement.

Can you tell he is entering the teenage years soon?? Notice the hand protecting the IPod.

Meanwhile, my girl decides to continue playing...and posing.

Haven't seen a commercial for hair sweeping like this in years!

And then it's back to ladylike poses.

On Tuesday, we went through some boxes in the crawl space above the linen closet. I went through all these books to donate to the library. There are more up there, but here are about 12 bags of books. Can you say, " Hello Kindle"??

Hope your holiday was filled with gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy here. We're not perfect, but we are free thanks to the men and women who sacrificed their very lives for our freedom and to the Founding Fathers who risked their lives to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Hard Questions

2011-06-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

When we adopted our children, I knew there would inevitably be tough questions coming from their ever-growing, curious minds. Since Peter was adopted domestically through open-adoption, his questions can be answered honestly and with considerable detail to fill in the gaps the questions are directed to. Born to teenagers, they simply were not prepared to be parents and picked us. There's more, of course, but that's the basic story.

Today Caroline asked me to tell her her story.

Caroline's story is not so easy.

Caroline was born in China. Her adoption is another casualty of China's "One-Child" policy.

We've told her before about how we went to China to adopt her and how happy we were.

Clearly today, that was not enough.

While we were at Target having a snack, she asked me to tell her the WHOLE story. And if you know my daughter, she knows exactly what she is asking. When I imagined this day, I did not imagine telling the story at a table in Target. But, life has rarely turned out the way I imagined it....

She was left at the door of the Civil Administration Building in the City of Huaihua in the Hunan Province.

She was 12 days old.

It was raining the morning they found her in the springtime. She was given the name "Chun Yu" which means "Spring Rain."

She was found with a note that indicated her birthday, the time she was born, and that she was the 2nd daughter born to her parents. That's all we know.

"Why was I left there, why didn't they keep me?"

"Because they would be in trouble with the government."

I explained that China has a one-child policy and that mommies and daddies are only allowed to have one child and that her birthparents already had a child. They held her for 11 days before they left her.

"Why didn't they just hide me?"

"Because if the government found out, they would be in trouble."

"Why did the government make this law?"

"Because there are a lot of people in China and they were afraid that they would run out of food." (Trying to keep it simple for her to understand)

"It's not fair."

"You're right, honey. It's not fair."

"Well, it's a good thing you came and got me or I may have starved in that orphanage!"

"Well, I'm just happy that I got to be your mom! Daddy and I love you very, very much."

Hugs....

Later as we were shopping, she said, "I'm glad your my mom and I love my family."

Me too, baby girl. Me too.

I LOVE technology! It Makes the World So Much Smaller!

2011-06-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

So a little backstory is fitting here.

Six years ago, while we were in Changsha adopting Caroline we were staying at the Dolton Hotel in Changsha, Hunan Province. The morning that we were to meet Caroline for the first time, we had breakfast in the hotel. Our waitress was named Sandy. She saw us praying for our meal and asked if we were Christians. We told her that we were. She was very happy and said that she was also a Christian and how God had transformed her life. Anyway, a few days later, she asked if we wanted to visit her church. We were thrilled to and she gave us the address of the church. We took a cab to the church and while we were there, a man came out and motioned to us to follow him. He was the assistant to the priest and we were escorted into his office/apartment. We got a chance to chat with them and pray with them and they with us. It was a sweet time.

This was us meeting with the priest and his assistant. The priest is holding Peter:

Sandy was such a sweet girl of 21 at the time (she is now 27). We kept in touch with her by email over the years and recently found out that she is here in S. CA! We arranged to meet her yesterday and went shopping. Caroline absolutely adored her and has been calling her "my big sister." This made Sandy happy because she does not have a little sister.

It was a blessing to meet Sandy in China and it was a bigger blessing to be able to see here here in the US.

This was us with Sandy back in 2005:

This is Sandy with Caroline today:

Caroline loved Sandy.

And the feeling was mutual.

As you can see, Peter and Caroline have grown up quite a bit since we were in China. Caroline is actually a year older than Peter was when we went to China! Amazing!

Sandy is as beautiful now as she was then. She told me that I look much younger than I am. I want to keep her!

Caroline was ok with that!

So Proud of this Kid!

2011-05-31T09:13:00.000-07:00

Peter's middle school had their awards ceremony last week.

I should preface this by saying that the teachers were allowed to choose only 8 students in each class of 20+ students.

I am so proud of my son. He received 2 awards! He received the Principal's Award for Educational Achievement and an award for Academic Excellence in Social Science!

Each student stood on the stage while the announcer explained why this student stood out to the teacher. It was a great night for him and we took him out for his favorite food: ice cream!

Friendship

2011-05-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

It's always nice to have the friendship that spans your entire lifetime.

The person you spent your very first year of your life with before your parents came to get you.

Who will always have your hand.

As you navigate your futures.

The Miraculous Sound of Silence

2011-05-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

The sudden silence in the back seat caught me off guard. I thought something had gone terribly wrong. So I checked on them and found this:

Then, I thought that Caroline's neck might get sore. I guess I didn't need to worry because when I checked on them again, I found this:

Amazingly, neither of them was saying "Stop touching me!"

Why I Don't Farm for a Living

2011-05-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

These were planted from seed by me in my garden.

I've also tried to grow basil and cilantro.

I love my grocery store.

Do NOT Mess with Him. He's a BLACK BELT!

2011-05-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

Peter earned his Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do on Saturday. Man!! Do NOT mess with this kid. He can now kick some serious patootie!

Three years of training, endless trips back and forth to the studio, aching muscles, hauling gear back and forth, and about a bazillion gallons of gas later, I think the moms need a belt too!

Make mine a port wine with some Sees Candies, please. Nuts and Chews only.

Peter with his best friend, Alex. They've known each other since they were babies!

With his Aunt Dana and Uncle Bob (my sister and brother-in-law)

Breaking the boards.

Emily split her heel breaking the boards. Owie!

Knife fights!

Bow staff technique.

This video isn't of Peter, but it is fun to see:

Getting his new black belt uniform which says he is a Junior Instructor!

Receiving his actual belt. Embroidered with his name.

The entire team earning their black belts and 3rd degree black belts.

Love a guy in uniform!

Proud Dad!

He plans to earn his 2nd degree as well, but would like to also take some time for himself.

I'm ok with that...

Ever Try Something New on a Sacred Tradition?

2011-04-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

Yeah, well we did tonight.

We (well, I) decided to decorate Easter Eggs tonight. I saw a new idea using items I already have over on M3's blog. So I hopped (pun intended) on over to her blog and tried it.

Using simple crayons and very warm cooked eggs, we went to work.

But first, I had to prepare:

Then we took the nice, freshly-cooked, and warmer-than-you'd-like-to-hold eggs and began drawing, using only Crayola crayons as suggested:

The kids seemed to have fun.

One of them cracked and became further cracked when Rick tried to dry it. So, he drew a bandage for it.

Cute!

Aaaaaannnnnnd! The result?

A fine array of artwork, skillfully drawn by my amateur budding artists:

Hope everyone gets lots of candy! Chocolate goes very nicely with the wine, by the way.

Especially the chocolates from the kids' Easter Baskets...

Not that I know anything about that.

Spring Break!

2011-04-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of Spring Break and Caroline made this for Rick and I in class:

This is what it said inside:

I can't wait to see what's on the menu. And I admit, I'm a little scared about what my kitchen may look like afterwards..

But it can't be scarier than seeing Snaggletooth first thing in the morning, can it?

More Random Photos

2011-03-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

Caroline received this nightgown with matching nightgown for a baby for her birthday. Well, Kitty seemed to be the lucky recipient of the matching nightgown.

And here's proof that sometimes, they really do get along.

Shortly after this photo, Peter demanded that she get off of him. Oh well. It was good while it lasted....and I have documented proof!

Caroline's 7th Birthday and 6 Years Ago Today.

2011-03-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

Six years ago, we were in a hotel room in Changsha, China anxiously waiting to board a bus to three little girls who were getting families forever. We were three families who had not known each other before getting our referral photos, but are now family. Forever linked by three little girls who were born on the other side of the world.

Six years ago today, we left our hotel in Changsha, Hunan Province, China as a family of 3 and came back as a family of 4 with the addition of this little girl.

Caroline's referral picture at 5 months old.

Arrival of the three girls in the Civil Affairs Office. Caroline is in pink, McKenna in brown, Abigail in blue.

First photo as a famly of 4! Peter was in his silly-face mood.

Red Couch photo, White Swan Hotel, Guangzhou. McKenna, Caroline, Abigail

Saturday, we got together again to celebrate our girls turning 7 and remembering the journey of a lifetime that forever changed all of us for the better.

The girls today - 7 years old and having their party! Top to bottom: Abigail, Caroline, McKenna

They loved Abigail's baby sisters.

And playing Apples to Apples with Peter. Caroline's tooth is wiggly. Can you tell she is a little obsessed with it?

And watched a movie together.

Enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs

Had a Princess Parade

Collaborated on Pin the Tail on the Donkey

Had sack races

Target Practice.

And opened many gifts.

Each had a whack at the pinata. Caroline gave it her best shot

So did Abilgail

And McKenna

But in the end, it took big brother Peter to set the candy free.

Gathering the spoils

Celebrating with birthday cake.

Brown couch photos. They got to do their angry faces.

Their silly faces

And their pretty faces.

They are growing up so fast. Stay tuned for their high school graduation! Yikes!

Random Photos

2011-03-07T06:39:00.000-08:00

Just some photos of the kids and what they are up to:

Peter got braces. Oooh fun!

Caroline went to a "Western Round-Up Birthday Party.

And decided that she wanted to read Mommy's Bible. Ok, she can't really read it, but she sure tried! And yes, the kitchen area is being remodeled. The drywall has been like that for some time now. Sigh.

Long Beach Aquarium!

2011-03-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

So my fellow Sweet Pea friend, Tassie and her family were down from Washington to visit some friends in Long Beach. The kids had that Friday off school due to President's Day so we finally were able to go on a long-awaited trip to the Long Beach Aquarium. They were down here a few years ago, but we couldn't arrange to get together so this was the day it finally happened! Another mom and her little guy joined us and it was fabulous!

Thankfully, my sturdy minivan seats 8!

Tassie and I are secretly arranging a double wedding for Peter and Savannah, and Caroline and Baden. At least we know we'd like the in-laws! And we'd save some money ;-)

This is what happens when kids are bored waiting to go in. They attack the oldest one in the group. Peter took it in stride.

Tassie, Peter, me, Baden, Savannah and Caroline in front of a whale hanging from the ceiling.

The sea urchins were fun, and a little weird to touch.

Sleeping sea otter.

Caroline and Savannah go rock climbing.

Baden is not to be outdone by the girls.

They had a blast!

It was great to get together with Tassie and her family. Hopefully, we can make it to the Sweet Pea reunion this year!

Wow! Long time no posting!!

2011-01-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

We were incredibly busy over the holidays! It started right after Halloween when Rick and I volunteered to "help" with our church's first annual "Conejo Valley Christmas." What began as "helping" quickly became "leading". He designed and built 16 building facades for vendors to sell gifts and food for the event. My friend, Jean drew the design themes. She, my neighbor Liz and I traced the designs and then I headed up a team of painters to paint the facades. Then the day before the event, we added embellishments (fencing, beading, decorations). We brought in 6 tons of snow, jolly jumps, fire pits, and craft tables. The event was a huge success! We had over 4000 people enjoy themselves and the vendors were very happy with the outcome. Traffic was stopped on the 101 Freeway as the cars were looking at the snow being made and then they got off to see what was going on! It was wonderful and exhausting. Here are photos of just some of the designs:

Daytime photo

Evening photo with 1/2 of the facades all lit up.

The first design we did.

We had a tree-lighting ceremony

McKenna and Caroline loved the snow!

For three months, our kids hardly saw us because we were so busy and all they heard us talk about were these facades. We made it up to them by taking them to Knotts Berry Farm for the day.

Caroline loves her daddy.

And she also loved Snoopy - she's fickle that way.

Then we had lunch with some of Rick's former co-workers. One of them has twins - boy and girl. We sat the kids together for lunch and they colored waiting for their meal.

Yo, ho, ho. Three lefties in a row!

On Christmas Eve day we usually go to my sister's house to celebrate with her family before we go to Grandma's house for Christmas Eve.

Caroline LOVED the Littlest Pet Shop car she got from Aunt Dana and felt the need to show her how it worked.

I gave my sister a webcam so she can keep in touch with her sons in college.

Peter was THRILLED with the robotic arm he got from Aunt Dana and Uncle Bob. He has already put it together and it works really well. Except it doesn't pick up socks off the floor.

The kids were exhausted and slept most of the way to Grandma's house.

I told Caroline she shouldn't have a lollipop because she would fall asleep with it in her mouth. She assured me that wouldn't happen:

Uh....yeah.

Then it was time to celebrate at Grandma's house. Rick's sister and family were out from Minnesota to celebrate with us and the kids had a great time together. Peter and Brett are about the same age and haven't seen each other for a few years and in no time, picked up where they left off!

Caroline LOVED playing with her big girl cousins. Here she is with Abby.

Grandma made pj's for the all the kids.

And made ties for the men. She also made scarves for the women, but I don't have a good picture of them.

A few days later, we went to Mammoth with everyone. Peter found an icicle.

And Caroline made snow pebbles.

Rick and Peter went skiing - I should say, Rick went skiing and Peter went into snowboarding school. He loved it!!

Peter looking just too cool.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun! Peter loved his Korean language CD and book.

Caroline's reaction to this baby doll was "YES!!" with the fist pump for emphasis.

On MLK day, we went ice skating in 85 degree heat! Yes, welcome to winter in S. Cal. This was Caroline's first time skating and she had a great time and even though she fell a few times, she got right back up. That's my girl!

Fortunately, mom brought a change of clothes for her.

So, now we are settling back into some sort of routine...kind of.

7th Annual PNW Sweet Pea Reunion!

2010-10-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

So the story starts 7 years ago.

Families all over the country (and a few in the Netherlands) embarked on the journey of a lifetime: to travel to China to adopt a child waiting in an orphanage. The reasons differ: some to add to their family, some because they could not have children any other way, some because they wanted to open their heart and family to a child that had no family anymore. We all had our LID (log-in-date) with China around the same time and supported each other through the wait, which at the time seemed like forever!The Pacific Northwestern (PNW)"Sweet Peas" started a picnic to get to know each other before they ever got their referrals for their children. And they have added some S. Cal residents to the annual affair!

We all came from different political, social, educational, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Yet, because of our children, we became extended family. All because of the internet and a Yahoo group called The Sweet Peas.

And we love it.

Caroline and I boarded a plane at the crack of dawn and flew to Seattle. Seeing Mt. St. Helens from the air was quite the sight. You can still see steam coming out:

Then at the end of the flight, the pilot invited Caroline and me to see the cockpit and he encouraged her that if she wanted to be a pilot, she could!

We went to Alki Beach - which was beautiful, and let the girls play in the sand to their hearts content:

While the adults got to catch up and chat for a while:

Caroline found a friend in Mark (Julia and Mimi's daddy) who helped her build her masterpiece of a sand castle:

And a few pictures on the shore:

Then they posed for the obligatory photo-op. Julian is the tall boy in the back. He is Peter's "birthday twin" since they were born on the same day. He is Mariah's "big bother" and she is his "little sinister" according to their dad. The older girl is Effie, an exchange student from China who is visiting the Williamson-Chavez clan.

We later went to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. I think we were a little insane to let the kids have their own table, but they handled it quite well!

And the adults enjoyed having their own table!

We stayed with Kristine and Mark and enjoyed their hospitality! Caroline had an almost-instant affection for Ruby the dog. And the feeling was mutual.

We also enjoyed some time at Gasworks Park. This used to be a working gas plant, but is now a park.

Mimi, Julia, Caroline, and Kendra.

Mark is definitely the daddy to girls!

Baden loved the balloons and always managed to keep us laughing.

Caroline and MacKenzie - Huaihua girls. We like to think they were roommates.

Another great photo-op at Gasworks Park. Getting them to all together is a feat in itself! Caroline is next to Baden. Secretly, Tassie and I are planning their wedding. Shhh!

After lunch, we said goodbye to those who live in Portland and had to leave. But we then went on a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island and had ice cream! I told Caroline we were going on a ferry boat and she was confused when we arrived and it wasn't a "fairy boat" as she expected. I guess she's been to Disneyland a few too many times and had no frame of reference other than that! However, the girls were particularly excited to look out the window of the ferry as you can see:

And hammed it up for the cameras:

And truly enjoyed playing together:

Mimi, Mariah, and Caroline

Then we enjoyed an evening at Mark and Kristine's for wine, cheese, and friendship.

Baden, of course had to entertain us with his newly-discovered horn skills:

All too soon, it was time to leave. But here is my little traveler back in S. Cal. She did so well on the trip and both flights! The gentleman sitting next to me was quite impressed with her behavior on the flight home and asked if we could play one game of "rock, paper, scissors" while the plane taxied into the terminal since she and I played it quite a bit on the flight.

It was the most successful PNW Picnic to date, as far as I'm concerned and well worth the trip. We loved staying with Mark and Kristine and their daughters Mimi and Julia. We were welcomed in like family. Seeing all the children home with their families after waiting together 6 years ago lifted the spirits of all of us. Comparing notes about our children helped us realize that we are all in this together.

Random Photos....

2010-09-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

Just some random photos from daily life around here:

This is what happens when you send a 6-year old to unload 38 rolls of toilet paper into the closet, unsupervised.

And the same 6-year old "gets her diva on."

And runs on the treadmill in her own sense of fashion - high heels and a chef's hat:

And had a spa night with her friend:

And when she decides Mommy needs to get into a picture once in a while.

The Meal that Spanned Two Continents

2010-09-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

So Peter wanted to make something he saw in the show ICarly. We all thought he was crazy, but we made them anyway:

Spaghetti Tacos.

Yes, they were weird.

No, I didn't eat them.

Yes, he liked them.

He was the only one.

9 Years Ago Today....

2010-09-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

...was the most devastating day my country has seen in my lifetime.

The pre-meditated, carefully-planned murder of 3000 of OUR countrymen happened.

The murders of men, women, children, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Athiests, Agnostics, gay, lesbian, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians.

Citizens. My fellow countrymen.

Many of them visitors from other countries.

Children with the hope of changing the world, now gone forever.

All of them innocent human beings.

All of them not knowing that this would be their last day to live. Not knowing that they would die in a fireball. Not knowing the people they died with, but will forever be knitted together in a horrific story that will never be forgotten.

All the excuses in the world for the murderers who did this fall on deaf ears with me. Nothing justifies their actions that day...nothing. These were innocent people, not enemy combatants.

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children. “ ~ President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001

How We Spent the Last Days of Summer Vacation

2010-08-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

We went to a friend's pool:

And had chicken fights

And made a train

Got eaten by a shark

Learned to dive into a shark's mouth

Got eaten again by same shark

Lost our first tooth

Played at the beach

Met new friends

And played with old friends

And when bored, came up with our own fun

And got our attitude ready for first grade.

Of Models and Legos

2010-08-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

My nephews, Joel and Travis just turned 6 and we had a birthday party for them at the local Aquatic Center near their home. Peter enjoyed the large slide, but the birthday boys and their cousin, Caroline were too little to enjoy it. Bummer.

However, Caroline spotted these lovely pink sunglasses that belonged to her cousin, and the birthday boys' big sister, Rebecca and quickly decided that she should model them while I snapped away with the camera:

Oh yeah. I'm in trouble....

Big trouble...

Where does she get this?

The boys are mad for Legos so my sister-in-law made a very cute and clever cake! The top knobs are, of all things, Ding-Dongs! Can you guess what the bottom layer is?

Rice Krispy Treats!! (Yes, she ran out of blue frosting)

Did I mention that ALL the boys played with the Legos??

Yes, ALL of them...

They are all in their bathing suits, but seem uninterested in swimming...

Peter shows off his jet fighter

At gift opening, the boys could not climb over each other fast enough to see this Lego City.

And leaf through this Lego book with Grandma.

And later, Caroline and Joel decided to model costumes. Caroline has quite the uh, muscles across her chest.

How's your summer going?

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

2010-08-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

Nagging doesn't work. Reminding doesn't work. Heaving sighing doesn't work.

Children seem to have selective hearing.

Their eyes also tend to roll uncontrollably when reminded to do this outrageous task.

What is this task that this slave-driving mom insists they do?

Yep, I'm a meanie all right...

What We've Been Up To

2010-07-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

Man, this summer is flying by! Nothing set this reality in faster than receiving the "welcome packet"/"what you need to spend your hard-earned money on at your child's new middle school because the state is broke and isn't giving us the tax money you put into the system" paperwork. Oh yea, I'm so excited....

So anyway, back to what we've been doing since getting back from Lake Casitas:

We've hosted a student from Siberia, Russia. Her name is Yulia.

She and Peter had a lot of fun tackling each other:

And having Nerf gun wars:

And then Caroline got in on the act. This picture scares me just a little...

And since we apparently did not eat enough S'mores while camping, the kids insisted on having a backyard campfire. Ostensibly, this was so that Yulia could try good ol' American S'mores, but I think it was just a ruse to have S'mores (pun intended!)

Caroline gave a "thumbs up" sign while enjoying hers with great gusto:

Then we had a Farewell Party with all the exchange students from Russia, Sweden, Finland, and Spain.

This is probably the equivalent of the Finnish "Bunny Hop."

And the Spaniards could not resist doing the "Macarena."

And we went swimming with Caroline's friend from school, Naomi.

Caroline told me the other day that she was getting "as dark as Naomi." When I told her mom that, she and I had a good laugh, until we realized that she is getting pretty close to being right! And yes, we use lots of sunscreen!

And a great time has been had by all...Zzzzzzzz

Hope your summer has been a blast! We're going to enjoy the last few weeks while we can!

Lake Casitas Vacation

2010-07-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

For the record, I believe camping is not a vacation for anyone but the kids. Camping is doing every chore you normally do at home, just without the convenience of actually using that home or the modern conveniences enclosed in that home, i.e. a shower, sink, stove, refridgerator, etc. In a nutshell, camping was a lot more fun when the adults in my life made the preparations and not me.

However, Karen and I went to the Lake Casitas campground a few months ago to find a better site to camp in than the ones from the last two years which were small and the roads on them were like going 4-wheeling in a minivan. Additionally, the water and toilets available were shared by several campsites and by the end of the weekend, there was still water, but the toilets were both overflowing badly.

So, Karen and her husband were going to rent a trailer so we looked at ones with water and electrical hookups and after a recommendation by another camper who happened to be there when we were scouting, we found a beautiful campsite! It was surrounded by shade trees, was flat for setting up tents, had a playground visible from the site, had water and electrical hookups and was walking distance to the water park! We were sold and booked it right away.

As it turned out, renting a trailer was going to be too expensive but we kept the site anyway. Soooo glad we did! The shade was wonderful and the electrical hookups afforded us the ability to set up fans during the heat of the day. Fabulous! And the littler kids were able to play on the playground and have fun while we prepared dinner. Cut down the boredom factor considerably! We also brought bicycles with us and were able to ride around the campgrounds on nice roads. Oh and the TOILETS!! They were actual flushing toilets and because the campground accomodated mostly RV's (which have their own toilets), we didn't have to wait to use them! Having our own water hookup in the campground let us hook up a hose and the kids could spray if they wanted. It was great.

On Monday, we went to the Lake Casitas water park, which was not crowded due to the weekend being over and we enjoyed playing in the "lazy river" and the water falls.

The first night there, we made a cake in the dutch oven for Bill's birthday. Lemon cake with cream cheese frosting. It came out a little flat and it was dubbed "the roller-coaster cake" due to its unusual shape, but it was still good.

The next morning, Rick and Peter were up before dawn to go fishing. Notice I didn't say "catching". Nope...not one. We did, however come home with some nice bait purchased with the fishing license. Fat lot of good that bait is.

We also had some visitors during the night:

Raccoon paw prints. Aren't they cute? Sure glad they weren't able to get into the coolers so I didn't wake up to half-eaten raw pork chops downed with diet soda.

At least they wiped their paws when they were done...

Then it was off to the water park. Oh yeah, I could get used to lounging in a river, floating in an inner tube, then getting out and laying under the cabana while my children tire themselves out in the water falls. Ahhh...

Rick and Caroline enjoy the lazy river

Peter and Connor hung out a lot together

Caroline and Cody shared well

Bill thoroughly relaxed

The kids were wiped out

Even on the way back to camp

Then evening came and it was time for s'mores. Yes, those decadent little treats that are only consumed whilst camping under the stars. I can imagine that the marshmallow factories see an increase in sales during the summmer and during Thanksgiving. Well, we helped them out this year.

First Rick showed Peter how to build a fire

Then he showed Caroline how to chop wood

Then it was time to make s'mores!

All too soon it was over and we were packing to head home. An immediate shower was on the agenda for today as well as an early bedtime so I can enjoy my own bed. Air mattresses were fine when I was 14, but not so much anymore.

And you'll notice that I'm not in any photos. I can reason that it was because I was the one taking pictures, but you wouldn't believe that. Or I could say that it's because I'm employing artistic license as a blog owner and only want to show the photos of my beautiful kids, but you wouldn't believe that either. I can say that I'm vain and refuse to show photos of me without makeup, no shower for a few days, and in a bathing suit. THAT you would believe.

Baby Shower for TWINS! Wheee!!!!

2010-07-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

Remember a few months ago, I posted about Caroline's "China sister" Abby getting new siblings? Well, she now has two baby sisters! Yep, Tatiana and Helena were born 3 months ago and are doing very well! So well, that they were the guests of honor at the baby shower we held for them on Saturday.

Analyn was radiant while showing off her babies and her gorgeous new home. Abby was the perfect little hostess, proudly showing everyone her baby sisters and helping Mommy open gifts. Caroline and McKenna helped hand out gifts for those who won the shower games.

And many of the guests remembered Abby and gave her "big sister" gifts as well:

The day before the shower, Caroline and I headed out to their house to help set up and I put her and Abby to the task of making a "Congratulations" banner. They had a fun time painting the letters and then putting their hand prints on the banner.

Caroline and Abby had a wonderful time together.

Abby loves her baby sister, but let Caroline feed her.

Caroline and Abby were happily playing so well that they had a difficult time sleeping. Abby was so excited to have her first sleepover in her new house! Caroline started to get a little weepy and couldn't sleep so I ended up sleeping in the same room with them. Trying to get sleep at 10:15 with 2 giggling six year olds was, um, challenging. They FINALLY quieted down at 11:30 after I threatened to sleep in the guest room as originally planned.

I figured they would get up around 8:30 or so since they got to sleep so late. No such luck. They were up and getting dressed at 6:00!! Oye!

Abby, Caroline, McKenna - beautiful Huaihua girls. The prettiest jewels to be plucked from China.

Abby, Caroline, McKenna with Helena and Tatiana - the family keeps growing!

And now Caroline now wants a house as pretty as Abby's.....

And a baby sister.....

And I'm in trouble....

Texas: It's Like a Whole 'Nother Country....

2010-06-22T01:20:00.000-07:00

...And they ain't kiddin'!

Many of you know that my neighbors and friends moved to Dallas two years ago. It was a difficult time for us and especially for Peter and their son, Brendan. So, Ligia and I decided to surprise Brendan by flying out, just Peter and me, to visit. Ligia told Brendan to make a sign saying "Welcome to Texas" for her "cousin's friend" who was due to arrive (as you might guess, WE were them!). Just two minutes before we came through the revolving door, Brendan asked why Peter couldn't ever come to visit.

Here's our arrival:

Can I just say that Texans are about the friendliest folks I've met in a while? This trip has renewed my faith in Southern Hospitality that was lost on a trip from Waco to Austin I took in 1991 when a Texas driver would not let me pass them on I35 when there was no one else on the road. He literally drove the center line so I could not pass him...but I digress....

With that said, it's also harbors the most bling of any state in the Union. Case in point: We went to a place called Sam Moons Click on any handbag, clutch, wallet, jewelry link and you'll see what I mean. And you must check out the luggage to get ideas for your next set of luggage that will definitely set your luggage apart from all the other bags coming around the carousel at the airport.

But if you're in the market for fashionable Texas rainboots, look no further than these babies:

As I was thinking about how I could "defend myself from muggers, rapists, vicious animals and carjackers while I was jogging, shopping, traveling alone, or on a really, really bad date", this little item caught my eye as I was making a small, non-bling purchase at the register:

Now, play this scene in your head with me:

Mugger: "Stick 'em up lady and give me your jewels."

Genteel Texas Woman (GTW): "But they're not REAL! They're from Sam Moon. Ain't y'all ever been there?"

Mugger: "Well, then. Give me your purse."

GTW: "But I just bought it at Sam Moon. Can y'all wait 'till next week when I buy a new one?"

Mugger: "Ok, then. Just give me your money."

GTW: "Y'all just hold on 'til I pull my pepperspray out of it's cute little blingy holster so I can defend myself in style, ok?

You can get this item from http://www.divadefense.com/diva-defense.aspxif you're interested...and I know you are!

We also went to the Frisco Heritage Museum. A fun little museum that was perfect for the kids.

This is a nice little locked log cabin on site. Pretty tiny.

And this is a genuine covered wagon. Equally small. The children were expected to walk most of the way and the wagon was only to carry household items.

The boys decided to act out this scenario:

Then they tried to break into the vault:

They were enamored with this 1950's room, especially since it had a TV:

And they tried a rotary phone. Problem was they didn't know which way to dial or how far to turn the dial:

They also apparently didn't know you were supposed to actually pick up the receiver and listen for a dial tone before you dialed.

They eventually figured it out, even if the phone wasn't plugged in.

Peter discovers a record player and it included (gasp!) an 8-Track Player (It had an Englebert Humperdink tape in if you must know)

They did have a hard time understanding what this contraption was at first and why it was black and white....

However, we did do some things more practical at the house. Brendan was off to a boy scout camp shortly after we left, but he needed to be able to put his cot together so we set them on the task of putting it together:

We also went to historic Downtown Dallas. The site of the JFK assassination was sobering.

This is the Texas Book Depository where they found the rifle on the 6th floor window on the right:

This is the building on the left.

There is a faint X in the middle of the center lane marking the approximate location of the second and fatal shot.

Now this next picture is of a wedding reception for the daughter of the pastor of Elevate Life Church. She was married a few weeks ago and they had a reception for the rest of the church on a Wednesday night. This picture shows the pastor and his wife talking about their daughter. Why is this picture included in such a sad part of history? Well, the pastor's father, the bride's grandfather fingerprinted Jack Ruby after he murdered Oswald and also helped lead the crime scene investigation. His partner was the man holding Oswald when he was shot. The grandfather was there, but he left before I could meet him.

I also got a very short chance to see our former associate pastor's wife, Patti Smith. The family now lives outside of Dallas and she was at the Volvo dealership while I was heading back to the airport so we got a chance to say hello. When we adopted Peter, she called every woman in the church who had a baby boy in the last year and before I knew it, I had several bags of baby clothes and diapers. A pretty good feat considering she had less than 24 hours to arrange all that before we brought him home! And here she is holding the shoulder of the child she helped clothe before he ever arrived home:

So here's my final rant regarding this trip. I cannot seem to economically reconcile why CALIFORNIA produce is sold cheaper in other states than California. If someone can enlighten me, please explain this:

This photo was taken with my cell phone yesterday at our local Vons market:

Apricots: $3.99 a pound.

This photo was taken on Friday at The Market Street Store in Frisco, TX:

Anyone? Anyone? Hello?

My Little Boy is Now a MIDDLE-SCHOOLER!!

2010-06-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

When did this happen and where was I? What happened to the little boy that started elementary school just a few short years ago?

This is so not happening....

Peter on his first day of his new school - 3rd grade, August 2007

He and Brendan on the first day of 3rd grade.

Look at those adorable dimples on his little baby face!

August 2009

He started his final year of elementary school and she started Kindergarten

How odd that he was wearing the same shirt!

Although I must say it wears a bit smaller than it did before.

She meets her teacher for the first day of school.
She looks a little nervous, don't you think?

She said goodbye today.

And the boy rejoices as he graduates from 5th grade!

(For those of you still struggling with snow, note the 70 degree weather)

We then went to the park for the non-school-sanctioned, after-school revelry.

They had an egg toss and a shaving cream fight.

The look on Caroline's face tells me I need to hide daddy's shaving cream.

And fast...

Peter didn't exactly win.

But the watermelon was wonderful!

I still can't get over my little boy being a middle schooler now.

That's IT! Caroline is not allowed to grow up. Any ideas on how I can enforce this new idea? I'm open to suggestions!

All She Needs is a Little Fairy Dust.....

2010-05-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

Caroline inherited some wings from the neighbor girl a few weeks ago.

Aren't they cute? Here she is perched on top of her playhouse. She uses this playhouse more like a jungle gym than a playhouse, but....whatever.

She is having a wonderful time with them. In this video, it would seem she is a cross between Tinkerbell and the Wizard of Oz monkeys.

In this video, she explains how she got her wings.

She begged for Daddy to make her a dog house. She really did. So he got some cardboard from work and fashioned the lovely masterpiece above.

In fact, she loves it so much, she has been sleeping in it for the past 3 weeks.

Every. Single. Night.

Not. Even. Kidding.

The kids have been on a campaign to get a dog and my simple reply is that we don't need a dog. We have Caroline. You can seethat she still loves wearing her dog costume over any princess garb. She has the best time sitting up, rolling over, playing dead, and begging for treats that it's a lot like having a dog, except that this dog is potty trained.

Seriously....

Friendship

2010-04-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

Friendship is a wonderful thing.

You can enjoy cleaning house together.

You can sit a spell and enjoy the penthouse view from the backyard fort.

And enjoy looking cute.

China Clothes

2010-03-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Caroline wanted to try on the outfit she wore when we adopted her in China. So we pulled out her memory box and she tried on the different layers. As I brought them out of the plastic bag, they still had a slight smell of the wood smoke that permeated the fabric and our girl's hair. Brought back memories.

First layer was this lovely little item. It's matching split pants were, um, stained.

Then the sweater.

Then the poofy jacket and split pants.

And the jacket had little ears on the hood. Very cute.

What amazed me is that she can still put them on.

We looked through her box and found her adoption certificate and passport as well as other items bought in China. I also put in there some of my favorite items of clothing that she wore. I am a big believer in handing down clothing until it's no longer wearable, but some items are special and I want to keep them.

She had a lot of fun and it helped put one more piece of her adoption story together.

So here's the challenge for other parents by adoption: See if your children can still fit in the clothes they were wearing when you met them for the first time! Ha!

Five Years Ago...

2010-03-13T22:44:00.000-08:00

Five years ago we and two other nervous, anxious, and excited families stepped off the elevator at the Civil Affairs Office in Changsha, Hunan Province, China. All of us with the same emotions: Will they like us? What if they cry? How will our lives change? We’re ready for this, and yet not ready.

Before we knew it, our guide came in. “The babies are here!!” she said. Quickly, we grabbed our cameras and frantically tried to turn them on so we could record this life-changing experience.

We were the first ones called. They called out the name given to her by the orphanage. “Huai, Chun-Yu,” said our guide. That’s us!! That’s our daughter! Rick quickly tried to focus the camera to capture this moment we tried for 3 years to accomplish: the adoption of our daughter and the completion of our family. She was handed to me and was quiet for about 4 seconds and then she cried. I remember telling her to cry all she wanted.

She was in her mama’s arms now. No more orphanages. No more goodbyes. No more crying for someone to hold her. I was here now. Her daddy was here. Her big brother was here. He was the one who at 4 years old, after praying for her one night said, “I wish Caroline was home now, Mommy.” A year and a half after that prayer, here we were with her in my arms. A prayer fulfilled.

We celebrated her 6th birthday two days ago. The baby girl from the orphanage whose birthparents, because of the laws of the government in China, had no choice but to leave her where she could be found is happy and healthy with her new family. The baby who at one year old could not even crawl yet is now riding a two-wheeler with ease, well ahead of many of her peers. The frightened baby who didn’t like strangers is now the favorite kindergartener to the yard duty moms at her school because she makes them laugh. She is a saucy little thing who will always tell you what she thinks…whether you like it or not. We’re working on being polite (ahem!).

Measuring her on the memory pole almost a month after we arrived home.

Measuring her this year on her birthday.

I’ve mentioned before that I always remember my children’s birthparents on their birthdays and say a prayer for them. Two days ago was no exception. They made a heartbreaking decision.

I get to be the one who hears her say, “I love you so much, Mommy!” as she stretches her arms so wide the touch behind her. I get to hear, “You’re the best Mommy ever.” (full disclosure here: I also hear “You’re the worst Mommy ever” too, when she’s mad at me.) I get to have her pretty little lips kiss me every night before going to bed.

And I am grateful. To her birthparents, and to God.

Bad Blogger!

2010-02-09T08:19:00.001-08:00

A month in pictures:

Peter made this outline of a person. Why you ask??

So he and his friends can use them for target practice with airsoft pistols.

They also made a bridge to cross this ridiculously wide creek....

And they used this rock to cross the ridiculously wide creek while making the bridge. Over and over and over....

And then they found this stick tied with a rope in a tree. So they partook in the joy of it.

Christmas at my sister's house with my nephew, Garrett and Peter playing guitar hero.

Caroline liked it too.

Caroline told my sister she wanted a REAL unicorn for Christmas, but she like this one....A LOT!

She also received a Cabbage Patch doll.

And then signed the adoption certificate.

Peter got a new bike from my sister and brother-in-law.

We also had a leak under our street.

And we had another exchange student from China/Mongolia. He called himself Razor and he has a little sister Caroline's age at home so he knew how to entertain her. His shoulders and neck were sore later.

And in other news: Caroline learned how to ride a two-wheeler! You can see the video here.

Sorry if this post is rather curt. I'm having trouble with blogger and trying to get this published.

Brown Stripe and White/Yellow Stripe

2009-12-22T22:19:00.000-08:00

Belt colors, that is!

Peter earned his brown stripe belt Friday night. He did really well despite the fact that he occasionally looked like he was going to pass out. He now has 3 belts to go and he is a black belt! Yikes! Do not mess with him!

With Master Yoo

Getting his new belt.

Group photo. They tested all the belts up to red stripe.

Caroline earned her white/yellow stripe today. She is not old enough to start regular TaeKwonDo, but she is old enough to be in the Tiger class of TKD designed for 4 and 5 year olds. She is the only girl in her class and she is also the loudest. Anyone who knows her is not surprised by this fact. :) While the boys were all white/yellow going for white/orange and got to test together, Caroline was the only one that was going for white/yellow so she had to test BY HERSELF! She has never tested for anything, let alone by herself! She did great and even Instructor Julie told her that it's hard to test by yourself and that she was doing a great job! Here's the link to the video.

Warming up before the test.

Punching stance. Determination on her face.

Earning her belt. Her old belt in her hand.

With Instructor Julie. Could her smile get any bigger? I don't think so.

Caroline and the boys.

Peter did not come with us for Caroline's belt test and when he came home, he said, "Where's that special little girl?" She came in and he gave her a big hug and told her he was proud of her. Can it get any better? She was beaming and I was proud of both of my kids. For all their bickering, they actually do care for each other.

Our New Bathroom!

2009-12-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

After many years of hoping people won't need to use our downstairs bathroom, we finally remodeled it. The walls were a lovely shade of pale blue and the white vinyl flooring that sported blue flowers had long since yellowed with age. The toilet was original to the house which was built in 1969. Yes, the toilet was, uh, old. The cabinet was also original, except the top was replaced sometime in the late 70's.

This is the original bathroom.

Lovely vinyl flooring, don't you think?

And don't you just want to try putting makeup on with that vanity light fixture? You'd end up looking like Freddie Krueger.

This is what happens when the toilet hasn't been replaced in 40 years. The bolts underneath the bolt covers rust completely away. Apparently, the only thing holding this toilet down was gravity.

We tore away the walls to install some new electrical.

And viola! New toilet. Notice that the toilet has no exposed bolts or ledges to clean.

I picked the floor tile. Rick cut and installed it.

Vanity chosen by Rick and I agreed with his choice! Good work, Honey! The granite top we picked included the sink!

Light fixture found online.

Artwork which dicated the paint colors. The scriptures start with Faith, Truth, Strength, Love. These are on the wall across from the cabinetry.

We have an agreement, Rick does the construction, I do the decorating and painting. It works. I've done so much painting now that I don't use tape to paint straight lines anymore. I have good paint brushes and a much steadier hand.

Now I'm begging people to use the bathroom!

China Families Reunion - With a Twist!

2009-12-09T14:35:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, we got together with the families who traveled with us to China for our daughters. We always love getting together with them and try to get together at Christmas and in the Summer. While McKenna and her family live in our area and we can schedule playdates, the other family lives 2 hours away and we see them twice a year. In this picture: Caroline, McKenna, Abigail.

The girls played for 6 hours straight with no arguments (anyone who has girls knows that any more than 2 girls at a time can create drama). Only once, after 6 hours together, did Caroline and McKenna melt down and poor Abigail was trying to be the peacemaker - at age 5! Both girls had a good cry and got over it and played again. The girls are all getting so big and they are all asking about their adoption stories. Wierd!

So, where's the twist? I know you're dying to find out.......

Weeeellllll, Abigail will be a big sister in about 6 months. Her mommy and daddy are going to have a baby...well, actually TWO BABIES!!! So exciting!! We are so happy for them!! We were so shocked when they told us and I think the oxygen was sucked right out of the room when they announced twins!

The next get-together will be even more fun! Can't wait!

Here's some more pictures from the day:

Obligatory Red Couch Photo. So fun to see them sitting together every time.
McKenna, Abigail, Caroline

Gift opening.

Abigail and Caroline riding the horse

Are Adoptive Parents Held to a Higher Standard?

2009-11-24T08:15:00.000-08:00

November is National Adoption Month when families created through adoption celebrate their families and remember the first parents who were, for reasons good or bad, instrumental in the building of those families.

Which brings me to something I've mulled over for the past 10 or so years.

Are adoptive parents held to a higher standard than parents who gave birth to their children? Do adoptive parents feel the pressure to be perfect parents, or at least better parents than the child's birthparents could have been, even though there is no way to verify this idea? If a child has been abused by an adoptive parent, the media is quick to point out that they were adopted. They don't do that when the child was not adopted.

From the beginning of the adoption process, we are interviewed, have our backgrounds checked, our tax records checked, our bank accounts checked, we need references, we are required to go to parenting classes, classes on the psychology of the adopted child, child safety classes, etc. All things that are not required of a parent who gives birth. Already, more is required of adoptive parents than biological parents to prove they are capable of parenting. I'm not saying we shouldn't have these requirements, we should. But right from the start it does create an anxiety in adoptive parents that we need to be perfect.

Children adopted internationally are significantly less likely to find their birthfamily. It happens occasionally, but not very often. And it is a significant loss to the child. Children adopted domestically have a higher chance of finding their birthparents and in open adoptions, it's practically guaranteed that the child will know his or her birthparents. And well they should, it is their history. I get annoyed with people who have no background in adoption who tell a child they should be grateful that they were adopted and not go looking for their biological parents. If it were them, they'd want to know!

So now, adoptive parents might take on the anxiety of knowing that their child who meets their birthparents will compare the family they grew up with to the family that could have been. Will their birthparents be given a report card about how well we did after 18 years of raising this child?

What if their birthparents are extremely successful now and we are...not?
What if the birthparents went on to have other children who are happy and well-adjusted? Could they have been good parents to the child they placed with another family?
Did the biological parents ever get irritated with their other children or were they model parents?

My head tells me that chances are, if they did parent the child they placed, they would not be successful because statistically, it is extremely difficult under the best of circumstances. This applies more specifically to teen parents. And I have a great deal of research to back that up. Anyone who has been watching the Dr. Phil family with a young woman, now 21 who was pregnant at 15 and decided against adoption can see what the outcome has been. And she had a great deal of help from a nationally known psychologist and life coach (Dr. Phil) and her family. Unfortunately, her situation is the norm rather than the exception.

My father died when I was 8. My mother never remarried. I think there were two reasons for this:

My mother didn't particularly like being married and they were planning a divorce when he got sick.
My mother knew that she could remarry the nicest man in the world, but he could not compete with the perception young girls create about their perfect daddy who died. My father had his faults, which I can see now. As a pre-teen, however, he was my daddy and he was perfect.

Is this the same for adoptive parents? Are we competing with a perception of what the birthparents might have been? Are our internationally adopted children wondering if their birthparents are perfect parents and they are stuck with us? Are adoptive parents holding ourselves to a higher standard because of this? Are we allowing ourselves to be human and have faults or are we telling ourselves we must be perfect parents and prove ourselves worthy of parenting?

There are those who may say that we are already better parents because we didn't give them up for adoption. I don't agree. It takes a great deal of love to carry a baby to term when there are other legal options, and place that living child in the arms of someone else when you know you are not capable of being a parent at that time of your life.

So for all you adoptive parents out there, what is your take on this? I'm curious.

Give Catherine a Cheer!!

2009-11-02T16:34:00.000-08:00

My Canadian acquaintance, Catherine, just adopted her daughter, Hannah!!! Three and a half years after she sent her dossier to China to adopt a little girl, she finally has her daughter in her arms. I couldn't be happier for her. Of course, I especially love seeing her hold her daughter in the same room I held my Caroline for the first time. If you get a chance, click over and congratulate her for sticking it out for so long and having a terrific attitude about it too!

George Washington Meets Alice in Wonderland

2009-10-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

So Peter tells me last night that he needs a George Washington costume, not for the costume parade at school, but for his report on the president that he is doing today. As I calmly and in my gentlest manic reaction screamed, uh, replied, "WHATTTT!!!!!???"

I had no George Washington hats in my arsenal and was fresh out of white powdered wigs, so it was off to Party City to see if they had anything. Turns out, EVERYONE WITHIN 10 MILES OF OUR TOWN WAS IN PARTY CITY. The long line was crazy. Well, they did have something that resembles a hat the first president would wear and it even had a white ponytail sticking out the back. We got the hat ($10) and went home. I searched through his jackets to see what I could find and came up empty and did some laundry. As I was hanging up some of my things, I came across a suit jacket that I haven't worn in some time and paired it with a white shirt and put it on him. It worked and viola! George Washington in blue jeans!

He does this to me again, and he will be mud. I have plenty of that in my yard.

How cute are they?

So the Halloween parade went off well at school. Caroline was Alice in Wonderland (easy to do, still had the costume from her birthday tea party). Peter was, of course, George Washington. The parents watched their kids parade around to the music of "Monster Mash" (does that take you back a few years? Me too.)

Peter and Camden (Abe Lincoln)

Caroline and Vincent

Then I went to Caroline's class for a little bit to take some pictures with the other Kinder parents. We lined up all the Disney characters for a picture:

Then we lined up all the girls:

Then all the boys:

Caroline is in love with Phillip (the Spiderman all the way on the right) and he likes her too. So what to the mom's do in such a case? Why we pick out wedding colors of course! Can't plan too early, you know (cough).

Tomorrow we are hosting Fall Fest with our church at the park. We are so excited for this opportunity to host a community event! Games, music, BBQ, giveaways, movies, kid shows. Woohoo! Can't wait!

It Was Only a Matter of Time.....

2009-10-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

Caroline started TaeKwonDo.

Yep.

She's been watching Peter in his class for a year now and when she found out she could take the Tiger class, well she was all over that!

She begged me for a solid month to take the class, but it didn't start until the 5th so she had to have patience (NOT one of the virtues she was blessed with!).

She and Simon, who has been watching his big sister in TKD, both started on Tuesday. Simon happens to have been adopted from Korea.

Simon and Caroline waited anxiously for their class to start and watched the previous class with great interest. Both of them kept asking, "Is it our turn yet?" That 1/2 hour of watching the other class have fun was just short of torture for them. Yet, they perservered.

Simon is every bit the pistol that Caroline is so the two of them together in class was going to be a hoot. Simon's mom and I sat back and waited for mayhem to begin.

It didn't.

It never even got out of the gate.

It didn't even start it's engine.

Both of them listened very attentively and followed directions as well as two excited 4 and 5 year olds could! Instructor Julie was so proud of them and so were their moms. They loved the jumping around and kicking. "Adorable" was the word of the day watching them try new moves with the out-of-toddler-but-not-quite-there-yet coordination they possess. Simon and Caroline have been watching their siblings for so long that they easily understood what Instructor Julie was asking.

Caroline loves to kick!

Warming up and stretching.

It's going to be an expensive year.....

The Paper that Determined My Academic Career

2009-10-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

When I first went to college, I was not unlike many of my fellow freshman in that I had not yet chosen a major field of study. That changed my first semester after my English 101 professor assigned us to write a paper about a major event that changed our life. I thought I might write about the night my dad died, but it was a bit morose and the muse was not cooperating. So I decided to take on an Erma Bombeck-style form of writing and write about an adventure we had a few months prior spelunking in a cave.

Now anyone who knows me knows that "roughing it" for me is when room service is late. OK, I jest a little because I do like to camp on occasion, but I don't like hiking..at all...ever! So spelunking in a cave was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of my comfort zone. WAY out!

Well, recently, my friends Sheila and John, who were with me on this particular trip along with some other friends, posted a picture of themselves in the same cave 18 years later and she encouraged me to post my essay on the excursion taken lo, those now 22 years ago. I found it in my file, carefully turned the yellowed pages and, ahem, did a little editing (It's my paper, I can do what I want. Writer's prerogative, you know), re-typed it into the computer, and am posting it below:

October 2, 1987

I Paid $17.50 for this Fun

It all started as a camping trip. We were six friends from church, “getting away from it all,” going to relax and have some fellowship. This was the way it started, that is, until someone wanted to see Boyden’s Cave.

Boyden’s Cave is a nice tourist attraction outside of King’s Canyon National Park, near Yosemite. The cave itself is nestled in between two mountains of harsh rock partially covered by lush, green wilderness. After our tour, the tour guide, named Dave, asked us if we would like to come back after hours for an expedition in a part of the cave not open to the public. He flattered us by saying we looked “adventurous” and “the sporting type,” but somehow I knew this guy was buttering us up. Anyone who knows me knows I’m anything but the sporting type.

“It’s not hard. It just tests your endurance, “ he said.

“Sounds like fun, “ Sheila said.

“I’ve never been caving before,” Nancy said cheerfully.

“I’m up for it,” bellowed Todd (only the day before, Todd jumped into a stream 30 degrees in temperature, with his glasses on, and claimed, “Feels great! Nice and warm.”)

“I love rappelling, “ said John.

“You’re awfully quiet, Teresa, “ said Bob (after a year of dating me, he now knows when I’m less than excited about something).

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I said. I was just trying to sound reasonable and logical, but I think they noticed that I was just being a coward. “Besides,” I said, “aren’t you guys still sore from yesterday’s eight-mile hike?”

They were not convinced.

I didn’t want to be the wet, stinky dishrag on the excitement and decided to go along. This was the best and worst decision of my life.

The other guide told us to wear two layers of clothing as the cave would get cold and damp. When he told us this I began to think, “Didn’t Dave tell us in the earlier tour that rats and snakes like to live in the remote parts of the cave? Maybe it was just my imagination.

We started to hike the 400 foot incline toward that lush, green wilderness. This lush, green wilderness soon began to feel like the jungles of Peru. We sifted through poison oak and slapped endlessly at mosquitoes. We finally reached an opening to the cave. This is where I proved to be a tearful, but courageous “spelunker.” As our guide tied the harness around my waist and through my legs (making my behind look like over-ripe grapes), I suddenly realized that I was in this for the duration. He gave me instructions on rappelling into the cavern. I promptly forgot these instructions as I started to descend.

I fell five feet.

I scrambled to grab the top of the rope with both hands and tried to recall the previous instructions and tried to picture in my mind the position form the guys on the TV show S.W.A.T., had taken as the opening music to the show played in my head. After I regained my composure, I began to talk myself down the slick, wet surface of the wall in front of me. Muttering to myself, I wondered how I let myself get talked into this. I decided to start praying and reciting verses as I went down into the cave. I remembered the verse, “In our weakness, He is strong.” This verse certainly applied to this situation! Upon my arrival at the bottom of the rope, I adjusted my helmet’s flashlight and saw Nancy and Sheila perched on a large rock smiling as if they had just enjoyed a nice cup of tea!

As we continued to explore the cave, we learned several ways to climb rocks and walls that would make the heart stop. One particular spot involved wedging between two walls, which felt like sandpaper and dust. I had to place my feet over a hole, reach down below my feet and grab a rope on the underside of the hole.

“Now what do I do?” I asked tearfully.

“Just jump, “ our guide said cheerfully.

“What do you mean, ‘just jump”? I exclaimed.

“We can see you!” our guide yelled.

“But, I can’t see you!” I yelled back.

“You can do it!” yelled John.

“Come on hon, we’re here for you,” Bob encouraged.

“It’s not as bad as it looks, “ Nancy tried to assure me.

“You’re holding up the line!” I heard Todd yell from above.

I realized now that I had no choice. I closed my eyes and jumped. Much to my surprise, someone grabbed my legs and kept me from slamming into a boulder roughly the size of Alaska.

“See, wasn’t that easy?” our guide said.

“Piece of cake, “ I muttered, spitting dust from my mouth.

“I told you you could do it,” said John.

“Come on Sheila, it’s not as bad as it looks, “ I said.

After five hours of spelunking, we were near the exit of the cave. Unfortunately, the only way to get there was through a tunnel two feet high with a tight “S” curve. I followed our guides confidently into this passage, feeling relief and victory at the same time. This feeling lasted until I heard the guide’s next words:

“Is this the right exit?” our guide asked Dave.

“Uh, I’m not sure. This might be the one that was blocked off,” said Dave.

I looked behind and saw my fellow spelunkers. Bob was on his hands and knees. Sheila was bent at the waist and looked at me under a red mob of wet hair. Nancy was squatting against the wall. John was nowhere in sight. Todd, however, was the most pathetic. His 6’8” frame was caught in the “S” curve and he was lying on his side. He was facing the wall like a disruptive four year old in class.

The guides decided to proceed on ahead, despite the possibility of the exit being blocked off. They told me to go on through the hole. The hole, however, was above my head and pulling out of it was no easy task as I am not an Olympic gymnast. As I grabbed the ground above me, Bob boosted me up. I threw my elbows onto the ground and pulled myself up with absolutely no grace to my form. I breathed in the fresh, night air.

As we trudged down the hill in the darkness, I began to reflect on the night’s event. God’s strength was truly shown in my weakness. I also realized that I could endure a great deal that I am not aware of. With God’s strength, I can endure almost anything. I may not like the trial, but I can endure it.

However, I have not been spelunking again.

****UPDATE****

Sheila mentioned on Facebook the other day that when she and John went back there a few years ago, they asked about going spelunking in that part of the cave again. The guide said, "Oh no. That's been closed to the public for a long time. People die in there." Isn't THAT great to hear?

Brown Belt Drama

2009-09-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

Pardon the poor camera quality on the TKD studio pictures. I only had my phone camera at the time (and I don't own an IPhone).

Peter passed his brown belt! Not without a little bit of drama, though. He waited too long to study the answers he had to recite. It isn't enough that they know their forms, they also have lessons they have to recite that have to do with character. Anyway, he ended up trying to memorize them in just a few days and dawdled trying to learn them and was upset with me for trying to help him by giving suggestions on how to memorize (hello! I've had to memorize a few things in my time) He started crying because he was frustrated and began saying that he thought this would be fun, but now it's getting hard (um, yeah?). I told him that just because something is challenging doesn't mean that you quit. If he gives up because something gets hard, he will give up when anything gets hard. If he were just trying out a sport and didn't like it and if he were younger, say 6, it would be different. He's good at this and a challenge is good for him. So I told him to go ahead and test and if he doesn't pass, he can try again at the make-up test. So he decided to try. I told him that Master Yoo has confidence in him, Instructor Julie has confidence in him and his daddy and I have confidence in him. Well, he passed and did well on the test. I knew he would.

Receiving his belt.

Breaking the board
A happy brown belt

With Master Yoo

Now here's a challenge for Master Yoo: There are 3 sets of identical twins in his class. Yes, three. All girls. All blonde. Oh yeah, that's a challenge. Half the time, he calls one of them by their sister's name and they correct him. For example, he will call out Lisa and she will say, "Lori, Sir" and take her place.

Three sets of twins - yikes!

At home with his new uniform

Of course, Caroline wanted to try the uniform on too:

I guess I'm seeing into the future here.

Cruise!!

2009-09-15T15:32:00.000-07:00

Last week we cruised out of Long Beach on the Carnival Paradise. I wasn't sure about taking the kids on a cruise, but it was so relaxing and the kids had a great time. The cruise line had Camp Carnival that the kids got to play with other kids and the parents got a chance to enjoy a quiet meal.

Our first port was Catalina Island. The kids got to play on the beach and we did a little shopping for candy....

That night, we had the "fancy" dinner in the Elation dining room. The kids got to try lobster, but to Peter's delight, Caroline didn't like lobster so Peter got to have hers too! Yummy!

Peter took this picture of Rick and me.

Mommy and Peter

The kids spotted dolphin pods outside the window. They were so excited!

One tired girl hanging onto her daddy after dinner and dolphin show.

The kids also loved having the high up beds that required a ladder. They couldn't WAIT to try them!

Did I mention that Peter lost a tooth? Turns out, the tooth fairy couldn't get to the ship and waited until we got home.

Caroline took every opportunity to avail herself of the 24-hour pizza kitchen.

Peter took the opportunity to try everything on the menu. He ate like a teenager!

Our next port was Ensenada, Mexico. Before I could take a picture, they took down the ENORMOUS Mexican flag on that flagpole in the background due to wind. Our guide told us it takes 30 men to take down the flag and if ANY of them drops it on the ground, that person will go directly to jail. Really.

We went to see La Bufadora (the tallest blowhole in the world), which was nice. Then we did a little shopping, and ate some wonderful homemade tacos. Probably the best I've ever had. Peter loved his fish taco and seemed to be soaking in the atmosphere quite well. I think he gets his "travel bug" from me.

Caroline was given a dollar on the way and she held onto it for dear life. She fell asleep and stirred only when she dropped the dollar.

Clutching her dollar.

Rick and the kids at La Bufadora

Spray from La Bufadora

The last day of the cruise was all day at sea so we spent the day at the pool and Rick and Peter went down the slide (almost like a waterpark slide). Caroline was horribly disappointed because she didn't meet the height restriction. Can't blame her. It looked like fun. However, we made it up to her by letting her attend the Build A Bear workshop. She picked out a lion for $20. If the lion was going to wear anything else but the Carnival t-shirt, it would be an extra $8 so I convinced her that by having the t-shirt, we would always remember where she got her lion. She agreed and I saved $8. Whew!

Peter on the slide

Caroline stuffing her lion

My Asian/Egyptian/Care Bear princess

As Rick was heading down to the pool, someone handed him a flyer for a full body massage and facial. If we had ordered it online prior to our trip, it would have been $269.00 so I decided I didn't want one. The flyer he was handed was for a $99.00 special! I got 90 minutes of absolute bliss while he watched the kids (and saved $170!!) Ahhhhh....a little slice of heaven on the Pacific Ocean.

And this was wierd. They were offering portraits and the portrait they used to advertise the services looked eerily like Caroline.

The really scary thing is that Caroline also has that shirt!

On Monday, it was back to school and into a routine.

Aaaaannnd....They're OFF!!! School Begins!

2009-08-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

I got up at 6:30 this morning to get the kids on track so I could shower, get their lunches ready, get Caroline dressed and then get them to school so we could have the time for pictures. Can you imagine my surprise when I came downstairs to find my children dressed and packing their lunches???? Yes, Caroline got up, got HERSELF dressed down to the shoes, and Peter (being the good big brother) was helping her pack her lunch. It helped that she was anxious to use her new lunch box that she picked out, but still....

Packing their own lunches!

We did not need to leave the house until 7:45 to have enough time to take pictures leisurely, but by 7:00 Caroline kept asking when we were leaving for school. It wasn't that she was excited to meet new friends, nor was she excited to hear stories or see her teacher. She wasn't even excited to use her new lunch box. Nope. She wanted to go on the MONKEY BARS....

Oh, yeah. That's what kindergarten is all about. Up until yesterday, she could not do monkey bars because she was afraid she'd fall (and regular playgrounds, it's quite a distance to the ground). At the Kindergarten playground, it's not so far to fall so it gave her confidence to go across. And she did. She showed me. All is well in Caroline's little world.

Caroline with her teacher before class began

Caroline and Mommy share a moment before she says, "See ya, mom!"

Peter is oh-so-experienced in school now so he just wanted to go to his class. Well, this mama was not going to let him off the hook that easily. It is, after all, his last year in elementary school (YIKES! Did I just type that?) and we took some pictures in front of his classroom before we left for the day.

When I picked her up today, she was all lined up with the other kids in her class ready and waiting.

Did I mention it was 105 degrees today? As we were walking to the car, she was polishing off her apple juice...

So what did I do all day?

Iced coffee at Starbucks with friends. That's what I'm talking about. My friends even bought me an insulated glass so I can easily assimilate into my new culture. Ahhhhhhh.......

I'll clean my house tomorrow. Today was for me.

Kindergarten Orientatation

2009-08-26T14:57:00.001-07:00

By 8:00am, Caroline was asking when we were leaving to meet her teacher today. Since Kindergarten Orientation was not until 11:00...well, you do the math.

All month long, she has been telling me she was nervous about Kindergarten. We all explained that all the kids will be nervous and that her feelings were normal, but that they will be all better once she meets her teacher and sees her class. We got there a little early and she played on the playground and we peeked into her class. Then her teacher came out and we had a short introduction whereby Caroline gave her teacher the wrapped peach she pulled from our fridge as a gift. Then it was off to to start the orientation. Well, after an excruciatingly long meeting (the kids were beginning to melt down) in the Multi-Purpose Room with the parents and students so they could give us the low-down on who's who and such, we FINALLY got to go to the classroom! Caroline found her nametag and sat in her spot on the floor. She did so well and followed directions to the letter. I was so proud of her! The teacher read the class a lovely story called "The Kissing Hand" about a raccoon who starts school, but is nervous (hmm) and his mommy gives him a kiss on the hand that reaches to his heart so that if he gets nervous, he just needs to look at the kiss and know his mommy gave it to him. So cute.

Listening to her teacher tell a story.

Standing by her nametag and number at the end. She found it herself before class started.

Tomorrow I will post about the first day of Kindergarten. Snifff.....

Girly-Girl...NOT!

2009-08-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

You know, I had dreams about having a girl for as long as I can remember. I liked the thought of dressing her up in cute clothes. No, I NEVER planned on being the kind of mom that put their child on Toddlers and Tiaras, nor will I ever, thank you very much. I just had visions of dressing my little girl in cute dresses with frilly socks, putting ribbons around her cute little ponytails. You get the picture.

Well, my daughter is more like this:

And "dressing up" means this:

And tea parties are like this:

Which results in this:

and consequently this:

Oh well. She's my little girl, mud and all.

She starts Kindergarten on Thursday. Part of me is a little sad that the baby we brought home from a dirty orphanage and nursed to health and on-target development is now growing up and starting school. The other part of me is doing the Kindergarten Countdown because she is so ready for school that she is wearing me down with her well-documented constant need for activity and more and more playdates. There's only one girl in our neighborhood that is her age and when she is not available, it means calling around and driving across town for a playdate.

I will be meeting two other moms Thursday morning after drop-off at Starbucks. I will be celebrating the occasion with a latte and a box of tissues.

The Last Camping Trip of 2009 for Us!

2009-08-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

I remember LOVING camping as a child. Then I remembered why: The adults did all the preparations and told us kids to go play. Great deal, huh?

Still, we had a great time at McGrath State Beach. I had not been there since (cough) Jr. High (and I won't tell you what year that was, so don't ask!)

We reserved two campgrounds and Rick's sister, MaryLue and husband, Clay and their kids joined us. They have an older daughter, Rebecca who brought her friend and they also have fraternal twin boys who are 5 months younger than Caroline. They were running around like crazy, climbing trees, playing at the beach, roasting marshamallows...

Marshmallow face

Joel, Caroline, and Travis in the trees

Rick shows the kids how to fly a kite.

At one point, while Caroline and the boys were climbing the tree, Joel fell. Miraculously, he did not hit the ground. Why, I hear you ask?? Well, while we did not get a picture of the actual event because we needed to rescue the poor boy, here is a picture from the re-enactment:

Here's a beautiful picture of Caroline posing on her perch:

These trees were a definite hit this weekend. Here's a picture of Peter and Caroline in the trees shortly after we arrived:

They had a great time at the beach.

Peter holding half of a sand dollar (does that make it 50 cents?)

Mer-men.

Posing in the sand (man, I see trouble when she's a teenager!)

Rick and Clay after riding the waves - "they still got it!"

On the first morning, we decided to make biscuits and gravy (one of Rick's favorites) in the dutch oven. The biscuits came out perfectly. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack some flour for thickening the gravy. What to do? So I asked the neighbors in the next campground if they possibly had some. They didn't but what they did have was some buckwheat pancake mix. Hmmm. Let's try it! It was wonderful! Who knew?

Did you also know that you can bake other tasty things in a dutch oven? Guess what is in this one:

Yep! Chocolate cake - and it was delicious!

Caroline, Travis, and Joel anxiously awaiting the popcorn.

Rebecca and Abigail enjoy corn on the cob. Yummy.

You know your kids are having fun when they can fall asleep where they sit.

And they beg to go to bed.

Next year we would like to tackle Yosemite....maybe. Right now I'm of a mind that "roughing-it" is when room service is late.

Favorite Foto Friday

2009-07-31T00:07:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd post two pictures from our Gotcha Day with Caroline that I didn't post on the anniversary. I wasn't kidding when I said she cried for two days after we became a family. The picture below is one of my favorites because the look on Peter's face says, "This 'sister' idea of yours was a great idea, Mom. Thanks." (read: sarcasm)

Before we traveled to China, I read blogs and websites of traveling families and many of them mentioned Day 3 being the "magic" day when the babies open up and begin to enjoy their new family. We got to see this magic first-hand. Caroline went from this:

To this:

Magic.

Peter's 10th Birthday Party!

2009-07-29T04:43:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Peter's birthday on Friday, two days before his actual birthday because he was leaving for VBS camp on his actual birthday. The posting dates are out of order, but if you read the last post, you'll understand.

Peter had 13 friends at the pool and I rented the homeowner's association clubhouse for the day, which proved to be a lifesaver!

The boys had a blast! I bought some cheap water guns at the .99 cent store as party favors so they could use them at the pool. They played for an hour, then I brought them in for hot dogs, chips, and cake. Then Peter opened his gifts and they were back in the pool for the next 2 1/2 hours! The party could not have gone better and I had terrific help from 2 other moms and a grandma. The were such a great group of boys who did not exclude Caroline during the party! The weather was perfect and Peter was absolutely in his element with all of his friends with him to celebrate turning 10.

Water gun fights!

I love the look of pure joy on Peter's face here as his friends sang Happy Birthday to him.

Hot dogs and chips! Caroline holds her own amongst all those boys.

Caroline also helped me make the cake...sort of.

Today My Son Turns 10

2009-07-26T00:03:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it.

After 5 years of marriage, a multitude of doctor appointments, surgeries – the last one resulting in a complete hysterectomy, lakes of tears, invasive homestudies, numerous classes, and reams of paperwork, we got a call 3 days after his birth that would change our lives forever:

“Good afternoon, Teresa. Are you sitting down?”

“Uh, yeah.” (Eloquent, don’t you think?)

“We have a baby boy for you. You have been chosen by his birthparents.”

“Uhhhh…” (Man, I’m good!)

“He’s full Korean, 7 lbs, 10oz, 20” long, born July 26th.”

Our friend, Steve, who was renting a room from us at the time, himself an adoptee, was heading up the stairs when he heard me say:

“Uhhh, 7lbs, 10 oz, 20” long…uh, huh” (Did I mention that I have a Bachelor’s Degree in English?)

Steve stops dead in the middle of the stairs.

“Will you come in tomorrow for him?”

“Uh, yes…yes…YES! What time?”

After all the particulars, it was time to call Rick. Steve immediately sat down to watch me make a phone call that would bring his own adoption story full circle.

(Breathe... breathe... breathe…)

“Hi, Honey. The agency called....we have a baby boy!”

“Uhhh. We do?” (I know, I know. I can hear the compliments from you on our movingly expressive use of the English language. Stop, really-we’re just blushing)

“Uh huh, 7 lbs, 10 oz, full Korean, born July 26th”

“Do I leave work now, or do we pick him up tomorrow?”

"Tomorrow at 2:30."

I'm sure there was more conversation, but after 10 years, much of it has faded from my memory.

So began our whirlwind of preparations…a quick shopping trip with a friend, a borrowed bassinet, a retrofitted hand-me-down carseat, film for the camera (no digital back then)… And $80 later preparations were complete…at least the physical ones were.

Nothing really prepares you to be a parent for the first time and there’s nothing like 24 hours notice that it’s happening to REALLY make you feel like you’re jumping off a cliff without so much as a bungee cord.

That night was a flurry of activity around the house. Phone calls to make, learn how to make formula, read up on “What to Expect the First Year”, oh…and get some sleep. Rick slept like a log. Me? Well, not so much….

The next day we met Rick’s dad at the agency and walked into the building. Peter had not arrived yet and we were anxiously awaiting his arrival when I remembered that we left something in the car. Rick went out to get it and he met our son in the parking lot. Our agency worker poked her head in and told Rick’s dad to turn on the camera. In walked Rick with our baby in the car seat. I kept looking at him when Rick said, “You can take him out, you know” I said, “I CAN, can’t I?” We just sat looking at him for the longest time and couldn’t believe we were actually holding our baby. The picture above was taken on July 30th, 1999. Our first photo as a family of three.

My first miracle.

After about an hour of picture taking, feeding, changing, burping, etc. It was time for us to take him home. As we were driving, Rick looked at me and said, “You’re thinking about the next 20 years, aren’t you?” Yeah, I was.

Dang. I really hate it when he’s right.

We arrived home and my friend Julie was there to videotape our arrival. Rick and I held our baby boy, looked at each other knowing each of us was thinking the same 5 words spoken by every first-time parent when they bring their child home, “Now what do we do?”

After several hours and many visitors, we finally went to bed and placed Peter in his bassinet. Around 12:30, I awoke to crying and thought, “What is that noise? Oh! That’s right! We have a baby!!” Rick and I watched as I fed him a bottle, marveling at the miracle in our arms, wondering why out of all the would-be parents in the world, his birthparents gave us the privilege of being his parents.

Not a birthday of Peter’s goes by that his birthparents are not on my mind and in my heart. My heart then prays a prayer of comfort and peace to their hearts because I know that they are thinking of him on this day too. I cannot even imagine the pain, the fear, the heartbreak they must have endured and may still endure to this day. We met his birthfather about a year later and were able to ask questions and thank him for what they did for our son. The selflessness they demonstrated on his behalf, knowing they could not raise a child at their age, nor did they want to raise him in two different homes with two sets of rules, shuffle him back and forth, new boyfriends, new girlfriends, etc. They wanted better for him. They could have chosen a legal medical decision for themselves, but chose to give him life instead. I will always be grateful. No one, but NO ONE says a bad word about them or they will get an earful from me! As side note: I am not one that believes he was “meant” to be my child. I do not believe God would cause a teenage girl to become pregnant so I could have a baby. Likewise (as in Caroline’s case), I do not believe that God would cause a woman in China to give birth and have to make such a painful choice so that I could have a child. No. I believe that God can take a difficult situation and redeem it. He only needs willing people. Can He direct a good match? Sure! Peter has an interest in computers like his dad and Caroline appears to have inherited the stubborn streak from my side of the family.

Yes, today he turns 10. My thoughts are many. Thankful to his birthparents, thankful to God.

Memories flood back and yet some memories have faded. Thank heaven for video recorders. I look back at pictures and remember fondly the toddler years. Capturing those first steps the day after his first birthday. Taking him to preschool. Hearing him pray for his baby sister in China, not knowing who she was or what she looked like. Watching him take on the role of big brother and the bumpy road it was in the beginning. Praying with him as he asked Jesus into his heart this April. Seeing him now taking on more responsibilities. All of it working toward the day we have to let him go and find his way.

He’s feeling comfortable enough to ask questions about his birthparents. I answer them directly without asking, “Why do you want to know?” He has seen a picture of them after I asked him if he wanted to see what they looked like. I had a conversation with him a few weeks ago and told him that he can ask me anything about his story and his birthparents and I will answer honestly with any information that I know. His response was that he was just curious. I responded with, “Well, I would be too!”

Happy Birthday, Peter. You are a joy to your daddy and me and we love you so much. We are so grateful to be called your mom and dad. You are one special boy.

You are indeed, my first miracle.

With Master Yoo after earning his blue stripe belt on Friday.

2009-07-14T23:31:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we had our semi-annual get-together with our China families. It is wonderful to see how much the girls have grown! When they were small, it seemed like they were triplets because the looked so much alike. Now that they're growing, they look so different.

They girls happily played together all day long. So much so, that the adults were tired! It was fun to watch them hold hands, share toys (yes, they really did!) and just enjoy having playmates their age.

Playing in the pool

On Tuesday, I took the kids to the Long Beach Aquarium. It was great fun to watch Peter really taking on the role of big brother with Caroline. He is turning 10 in a few weeks and I think he is starting to see himself as older and more responsible. He was helping Caroline see the otters by lifting her up, he was holding her hand and taking her to see some fish while I signed up for membership at the Aquarium. (Side note here: did you know that a family membership to the LB Aquarium is tax deductible? Me either!) Anyway, he was reading about the fish to her and comforting her when she was scared of the manta rays.

Beautiful tropical fish. So colorful!

Helping Caroline see the otters

Showing her how to gently touch the anemones

They were both quite enamored with the sea turtle!

Peter and the manta ray

Caroline finally pets the manta ray.

Outside the sea lion exhibit

We all recently had haircuts by Peter's Tae Kwon Do instructor, Master Yoo. He has his own salon in town. (a man of many talents!). Anyway, Master Yoo gave Peter what he called, "the Korean boy's cut". Not exactly sure what that means, but it looked good. After cutting Peter's hair, he put gel in it to stick it up. Now Peter wants his hair to do that all the time, except that I have mousse, not gel. "No, Mom. It has to be gel!" Too bad, kiddo. I have mousse. It works. Unfortunately, in this picture, I did not mousse his hair, so it is not sticking up. He was not happy with me.

Yesterday, he was bugging me about getting a basset hound. Now I must tell you that we HAD a basset hound before we adopted Peter. After adopting Peter, the dog snapped at 3 kids so we called the basset rescue (where we got him in the first place) and he was given to a bachelor with no kids.

So, anyway. We were at the mall and he and Caroline wanted to go to the pet store (WARNING! BAD IDEA!!) He made a beeline for the basset hound puppy. Now I must say that few things are cuter than a soft-eared, playful, "please take me home with you" soul-eyed basset. However, this is tempered by the price tag of said basset....$1000.00...in a deep recession, no less, when people are abandoning their pets because they can no longer care for them. I have always maintained that if we ever get a dog, it will be from the animal shelter and not from the mall, regardless of the economy.

When we left without the dog, Peter was pouty for a few hours. Nothing a good workout at the Tae Kwon Do studio didn't cure (heh!).

Just this morning he asks me, "Mom, could you make me some of your delectable french toast?" When I asked him why he wanted me to make it when he knows how to make it. He said, "Because I'm your miracle, remember?" I've always told him the he was my first miracle, and Caroline was my second. Who would have guessed he'd use it to manipulate french toast out of me?

Well, I'm off to make french toast now. Guess it worked.

Sooo, how much are hamsters?

What a Summer!

2009-07-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Man! We have been on the go for weeks now. We are enjoying our summer to the fullest.

On the 3rd of July (yes, the 3rd), City of Moorpark has fireworks in the park. They were wonderful this year too. They always have overpriced jolly-jumps there for the kids. And when I say overpriced, I'm NOT exaggerating. You buy 10 tickets for $10. So I have Caroline in line for one of them that has a slide. One trip costs 3 tickets!! So for $3, she got to slide down the slide ONCE! Needless to say, we burned through that $10 rather quickly. And no, I didn't buy any more. By the way, this was AFTER we paid $5 a person to enter the park. I can understand that, it's to offset the cost of the fireworks. But $3 to go down the slide ONCE? Not worth it.

Then on the 4th, we went to our friend's Bill and Karen Allen. The kids got to play in the street with their scooters and then beat on a pinata that wouldn't give up the candy easily. It eventually landed on the ground and Connor beat the thing until it finally cracked under the pressure.

Later in the evening, Cody was giving tricycle rides to the other kids. Mind you, Cody is 4. He was having a great time weaving in and out of the adults. Meanwhile, Peter joked to our friend, Rolland (who's wife Rena gave birth to their beautiful baby boy, Gianni on Mother's Day) that Rolland was getting old due to his graying beard. Well, Rolland took the opportunity to tickle my "foot-in-mouth" son until he yelped like a puppy.

Then on Sunday the 5th, we had our home group BBQ. Lots of kids there so the hosts pulled out Twister. Ahh, the games of our youth come back to haunt us and potentially cause us to break a hip. Fortunately, the kids didn't want the adults playing (whew!).

One day after going to the pool, Caroline wanted to wear her NEW dog costume. Actually, I got both dog costumes handed down at the same time, but since this one was bigger, I decided to store it away until the other one became too small. We have now gone from a Bernese Mountain Dog, to what appears to be a terrier of some sort:

And just for random cuteness, here's what I found her doing the other night:

She said she wanted to do her hair "like a dude." Uh, ok...

And then McKenna's mommy invited us to the beach last minute. I invited Peter's friend, Alex to come too and Caroline and McKenna and Peter and Alex had the best time ever. Peter and Alex are usually pretty cautious, but the tide was perfect and the beach was flat for quite a ways and the boys were able to go out quite far. Peter collected about 30 sand crabs and some of them were about the size of a big toe! Eeeew. And no, we did not bring any home, just in case you were wondering.

Tomorrow we will be having our semi-annual get-together with the families we traveled to China with for our daughters. It's always fun to get the girls together and see how much they've grown. I'll post about that later.

How We're Spending Our Summer Vacation

2009-06-29T16:53:00.000-07:00

We have been on the go since school ended on June 12th. This is going to be one busy summer with 3 camping trips, numerous trips to the pool, VBS, and one birthday celebration! Yikes!

And yet, the laundry room is wailing out loud for my attention, the dishwasher gets emptied when we run out of dishes and need clean ones, people are writing "dust me" on my furniture, and the kids are still complaining that they're bored. Hmmm.

So we went camping this past weekend and had a nice time. The kids played in the creek behind the campground and Lake Casitas has a water park in the campground that we went to on Saturday. Rick and our friend, Bill took the older boys on a boat on the lake and went fishing. How did they do you ask? Well, let's just say it's a good thing we were not planning dinner around their results (ahem!)

Playing in the creek.

Small play area at Lake Casitas Water Park.

Peter established his reputation in the campground as "The Frogman" as he was able to catch several "thumbnail -sized" frogs in the creek. He begged me to bring them home, but we appealed to his sensibilities of saving the earth by telling him that taking the frogs out of their natural habitat will most certainly kill them and upset nature's delicate balance. He replied by telling me that he can bring some of their "natural habitat" home with us. Smarty pants.

OK, truth be told I did not want dead frogs rotting in their "natural habitat" in a canister designed for temporarily housing various and sundry creatures so that they could be examined under a large magnifying glass in order to educate young minds about nature. Really. Honest.

I know. I'm mean that way....

Yes, that little lump is a frog.

We are also spending a great deal of time at the swimming pool. The nice thing about a community pool is that you don't have to schedule "playdates" because there is always someone the kids age there and usually, they are from school so they already know them. The other nice thing is that I don't have to maintain it. :)

Caroline is a natural swimmer and loves the boogie board.

Proof that sometimes my kids play together.

We also went to the beach for Father's Day (yes, that is how far behind I am in blogging!)

Bonsai Boy and Butt Girl

Caroline getting ready to try the boogie board.

More proof that my kids sometimes play together.

After an exhausting fun-filled weekend of playing in the creek, spending all day Saturday at the water park, eating s'mores, and playing in the campground, we were driving home when Caroline said, "Mommy, I want a playdate with a friend."

Uh, ok...Can we revisit this request after mommy gets a few days of sleep? Thanks ever so much.

Fashion Challenge Friday and Many More Happenings!

2009-06-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

My bloggy friend, M3 started Fashion Challenge Friday with her twins and it's been great fun to see what our children come up with.

Today's fashion challenge happened when Caroline got out of bed before mommy. She came into my room to announce that she found what she wanted to wear today and dressed herself thusly....

We purchased this sleep shirt at Ross a few days ago and she has decided she doesn't want to use it as a sleep shirt because she doesn't want it to wrinkle : ) Well, alrighty then! She paired it with shorts...mind you it is still NOT shorts weather here in sunny S. Cal. and it's mid-June!

Peter made the Honor Roll again. His Aunt Dana said she would give him money for every A he brings home. She may regret this later as it seems to have lit a fire under him to do well! Still, I'm so very proud of him. He has worked very hard this year and is so pleased with himself when he does well. He has learned to take initiative to get his work done. Let's hope this trend continues through the teen years. Here he is pictured with his friend, Camden who just moved here a few months ago from AZ. They sat next to each other and have become fast friends. Today was also the last day of school and I am soon to become the mom of a 5th grader!

He continues to do well in TaeKwonDo and I think the lessons have really helped him to keep focus on goal-setting.

In other happenings, Rick took Caroline to Disneyland for a Daddy/Daughter day about 2 weeks ago. She had a blast and met many of the characters. Tinkerbell's line had a great many, uh, teenage boys in it and Tink graciously took pictures with them and booted them on. So when Tink saw Caroline, she spent a little time talking with her. She also met Alice and the Mad Hatter when they first arrived but Caroline only had eyes for Alice so the Mad Hatter busied himself with walking around. I wish I had sent her dressed in her own Alice costume. It would have been a cute picture. Here are some other pictures:

She started out the day in shorts when she met Goofy.

She got to spend time with Tinkerbell

"The Mouse" himself!

The Carousel always brings a smile to her face.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Cute Stuff

2009-06-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

Let me hear you say it......

Awww.....

Fashion Challenge Friday!

2009-05-29T12:12:00.000-07:00

It's Fashion Challenge Friday! Always fun and definitely a challenge! Today, Caroline chose a nifty ensemble of pink capri pants, generously roomy and with a nod to the 70's-a lime green 70's-inspired ruffle shirt. Adding to the palate is a leopard print bolero-style jacket (a girl's gotta have some animal print to feel like she belongs in S. California, after all). She completes the ensemble with navy blue sandals (and yes, it's chilly out today-at least she has the jacket, right?)

For more Fashion Challenge Friday photos of others, check out my friend, M3's blog

Happy Friday everyone!

Disney at Union Station

2009-05-28T17:01:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Weekend Disney decided to promote a new movie, "A Christmas Carol" at Union Station in Los Angeles. The promotion was to include previews of the movie, an interactive display, and items from the Charles Dickens Museum in London. The day before we went, they expected 5000 people...15,000 showed up. The day we went, they were expecting 12,000 people...there were 20,000 before noon. It was turning out to be a four-hour wait to go through the exhibit. Way too long for the kids to wait and we decided to look around a bit at some of the entertainment they had for those waiting in line. They had the Dickens Carolers and a band playing along with a juggler on stilts. We asked the kids if they would prefer to go to Universal City Walk instead and the answer was a unanimous, YES! So we got back on the Metrolink and off we went. Peter's friend, Alex joined us for the day and they had a good time eating ice cream and playing in the fountain. We then went to the Game Stop to look at games and Caroline announced that she had gone potty in the fountain...oh yes, yes she did. So I did what any good mom would do: "Ok, honey. Next time tell me you have to go, ok?" and then left the store. Oh yes, yes I did. They use chlorine in those fountains, right? Tell me that they do....

Here's some pictures from the day:

Rock climbing at Union Station in Los Angeles

Caroline in front of the Christmas Carol Train

The band

The entrance into the exhibit

What is wrong with this picture? Well, would you think there would be a problem with deer crossing in the heart of Universal City with the Hollywood 101 freeway just to the right??

The infamous bidet, er fountain at Universal CityWalk

And a good time was had by all.....

Blue Belt!!

2009-05-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

Peter tested for his blue belt and passed with the flying color blue! He was the only one testing for his particular belt color this time and he had to test all by himself and he did great! More than one parent came up to me afterward and told me how impressed they were with his composure. He did all his moves without the aid of other students testing with him and knew his student creed for the blue belt cold!

Master Yoo and Instructor Julie did some demonstrations prior to the testing for the parents to watch. Very cool stuff! However, afterward Master Yoo said after today, he retires from demonstrations. At 36, I guess he feels old. The parents and the students laughed, knowing he is just tired.

There were a lot of green belt students testing for their green stripe belt and purple belts that advanced to green belts.

The music was loud for the demonstrations and the "Yes Sir"s from the students were also loud. Breaking boards required the loud music as well and the clapping for each student was loud.

And it didn't bother Caroline one bit....

Scrumptious Ponytails

2009-05-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

I bought this little outfit for Caroline last year, knowing it would fit this year. Love those end-of-year clearance sales! However, what makes this picture just over-the-top-adorable is the ponytails. Don't you think?

This is why I wanted a girl (come on ladies, admit it!). I wanted to be able to dress her up, do her hair, and...

...paint our fingernails together. I love, love, love this polish. It's perfect for little girls and busy moms. Why I hear you ask? BECAUSE IT DRIES IN 60 SECONDS!!! Yep, that's right! 60 seconds. You can see it here .

I figure with my opinionated little girl, I need to do all this fun dress-up stuff NOW while she will still let me.....

Someday she and I will enjoy a day at the spa, just the two of us.

It's Fashion Challenge Friday Again!! YAY!

2009-05-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

For today's challenge, Caroline has decided to sport her pj shirt from last night, with her very dirty turquoise pants that you cannot see (going for the grunge look, I guess). In her efforts to emulate Iron Chef, she is sporting an apron fashioned from a cloth diaper/spit up rag left here by Cody this morning and completing the ensemble with fashion-forward head attire, courtesy of the Ace Bandage company. Don't worry, the sharp clips were not employed for this picture. No children were harmed taking this photo.

Have a great weekend!

Know Anyone Moving to Georgia??

2009-05-09T20:25:00.001-07:00

My friend, Jim, is just finishing the final touches this house he built in Georgia. It is beautiful and he has done a great job. Man I want this house! (Just don't tell my husband-shhh!) Of course, Jim and his wife would love for us to move there, after all I am practically their daughter! Geri and I have been friends since we worked together at a bookstore more than 20 years ago and Jim walked me down the aisle when I got married. They have been married more than 50 years now and I have always looked to them as examples of how marriage should be.

Gorgeous tile and granite work, do you think? I want this in my kitchen here!

Here's some information from the listing page (the link didn't work):

Property Information for 705 Brown Deer Drive
Save Listing
CUST BUILT W/2x6 CONST & 5/8' ANCHOR BOLTS. FOAM IN WALLS R-27/R-42 TO R-60 C'LINGS.
CHEFS KIT W/DUAL FUEL STOVE & DBL OVENS GRANITE C'TOPS. HARDWOOD FLRS,HICKORY IN STUDY,
DUAL ZONED HVAC & VENT GAS LOG GRT RM. LGE MSTR W/HEATED/JET TUB. WALK IN SHOWER. ELEC H20 HEAT.
PRVT WOODED LOT. FRPL IN SUN RM
Property Features
· Single Family Property
· Status: Active
· Area: PICKENS COUNTY
· County: PICKENS
· Subdivision: FISHER CREEK EST
· Year Built: 2009
· New construction
· 4 total bedroom(s)
· 3.5 total bath(s)
· 3 total full bath(s)
· 1 total half bath(s)
· Handicap features
· Story and a half
· Style: Traditional
· Laundry room
· Bathroom(s) on main floor
· Bedroom(s) on main floor
· Hardwood floors
· 2 fireplaces
· Fireplace features: Gas Starter, In Great/Family room
· 2 car oversized garage
· Heating features: Forced Air, Propane
· Central air conditioning
· Cooling features:
Central Electric
· Exterior construction: Concrete Siding
· Energy Info: Ridge vents, Thermal pane windows
· Lot features: Creek, Level lot, Private backyard, Wooded lot
· Approximately 3.13 acre(s)
· Lot size is between 2 and 5 acres
· Utilities present: Public water, Septic tank
· Elementary School: HARMONY
· Jr. High School: PICKENS COUNTY
· High School: PICKENS
Interior Features
2 story foyer, 9 ft + ceiling(s), Bidet, Bonus Room, Breakfast area, Dining/Great room combo, Dishwasher, Double vanity,
Entrance foyer, Gas Oven/Range/Cooktop, Gas water heater, Great Room, Kitchen cabinets - stain, Kitchen counter top - stone,
Kitchen island, Master bedroom on main level, Self-Clean oven, Separate tub/shower, Stepless entry, Sun Room, Trash compactor,
Trey ceilings, Walk-In closet(s), Walk-in pantry, Whirlpool tub, Bedroom(s) on upper level
Exterior Features
Kitchen level parking, Mountain setting, Patio, Paved road
Community Features
Cable TV avail, HOA
Listing Information
Refreshed at 5:45 AM (less than 5 minutes ago)Added on Apr 17, 2009 (20 days ago)
To access this page directly, use
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/705-Brown-Deer-Drive_Talking-Rock_GA_30175_1108545973
This listing is brokered by
METRO BROKERS/GMAC REAL ESTATEOffice: (404)843-2500
Contact about 705 Brown Deer Drive Jim Laubscher 706-51505630

So if you or anyone you know is looking to move to Georgia, check out this house! Tell them I sent you! :)

Fashion Challenge Friday-WOOF!

2009-05-08T09:04:00.001-07:00

I am always amused at the choices Caroline makes for her wardrobe on any given day. This day, I was working with a friend on a business plan so Grandma (Rick’s mom and my wonderful MIL) graciously came down to watch Caroline and Peter and played Mom for a day. When I arrived home, it was around 80 degrees outside, Grandma was tired after walking to the park with her granddaughter and Caroline decided to change into this:

She wanted to make sure you could see the tail.

Yes, that is a doggy costume (Bernese Mountain Dog, I reckon). I know it’s going to be all the rage soon. No longer will pets be an accessory with matching clothing of the owner, but the owner will actually BE the pet they love. It’s the ultimate in “look at me”. I understand Paris Hilton will be calling me soon for fashion tips on how best to implement this innovative style into her oh-so-fascinating life.

Later, she was in the bathtub and decided she wanted a beard like daddy. Here is the result:

Sorry there are no pictures of Peter this time. He is home sick today with a 24-hour flu bug. Nope, not the Swine Flu (or whatever number they gave it). I checked the symptoms of the Swine Flu and they don’t match up. Did call the doctor, though…

Yesterday, she donned an old bathing suit (a size 2T on a 5 year old-apparently my girl has no tushie) and played in the sprinklers. Unfortunately, our backyard has patches of dirt where grass doesn’t grow due to kids playing and a large pine tree that drops an acid that keeps grass from growing. Anyway, here is what happens when dirt and water are mixed together by a little girl:

Oh yea, we're having fun now!

Check out my muddy tushie

Did I mention she likes to paint with her hands???

I'm having fun, Mommy. Can we do this again tomorrow?

Shortly after I took this shot, the next set of sprinklers went off and I got caught in the spray. Saved the camera, though!

And in case you're wondering what happened to the poor dog costume after a 5-year old is finished playing with it:

It makes a fine dog-skin rug....

Fashion Challenge Friday

2009-05-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

It's Fashion Challenge Friday! My bloggy friend M3 started this with her twin girls a few months ago.

Here is Caroline in all her independent dressing glory! She is sporting smart, red pajama bottoms with a contrasting dirty-white t-shirt that has been handed down too many times to count. The t-shirt's design is a lovely smiling flower - perfect for garden work (which this shirt has seen many a dirt pile), and since my girl is not an "either or", but a true "why not both?" kind of girl, she has decided that one pink dress shoe and one royal blue velvet Chinese slipper with coordinating flowers will do quite well, thank you. Oh, and since she has never been a conformist, the slipper is on the wrong foot.

Yesterday was not a good parenting day. I was day-dreaming of boarding school. Why? Let's see: Caroline wanted to take a bath in the middle of the day. I told her she could take a bath AFTER dinner. Little miss decided that Mommy certainly didn't mean that so she donned her footy-pj's, went into the bathroom and decided to try to wash her hair in the sink by herself. When she came out and I discovered her wet hair, I asked her why she did this. Her response? "I wanted to." I went into the bathroom to discover water all over the sink. Sigh. We had a long talk about asking for permission. I had her change clothes since we still had to take Peter to TaeKwonDo and going in her pj's was not appropriate, not to mention she would wear down the soles.

So then we go to the kitchen. I am emptying out the dishwasher when I hear a crash behind me. Little miss has decided that the dirty dishes on the counter need to go into the dishwasher full of clean dishes. Apparently, she did not have a good grip and the plate smashed onto the tile floor. Again, we talked about asking first before making a decision. Again...sigh.

This morning, I looked in the backyard to find that she had precariously stacked a tall barstool onto a plastic yard chair so she could see over the fence. Gasp! And...sigh.

Kindergarten starts August 27th.......

Honor Roll, Bear & Sesame, and Easter Pics

2009-04-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

Peter made the Honor Roll again! He really works hard on his schoolwork and rarely do I have to make sure it's all done anymore. I will attribute it to the fact that I let him fail at a book report: He was supposed to have it done, I knew it was supposed to be done, but he told me it wasn't due until the next week. Well, he came home from Wednesday night church and was very upset because it turned out I was right and the report was due that day. Soooo, I helped him finish it (I did not do it for him. I only read the report to him so that he could write it down in complete sentences. He was so upset that if he tried to do it by himself, he would just make more mistakes and get more frustrated). We talked about getting things done in a timely manner. Since then, he has made the Honor Roll twice and I don't have to bug him about homework!

I also tried my hand at hair clippers! You'll see my handiwork in the picture below where Peter looks like Wolf-Boy. This child's hair is so thick that if I don't keep it trimmed, he overheats. So instead of paying to get his hair cut all the time, I invested in clippers that will pay for themselves in 2 haircuts. Rick won't let me do his hair though...coward.

Caroline has found a new friend down the streeet. Abby and Caroline get along very well and play together pretty nicely. While I was at the awards assembly for Peter, Abby's mom watched Caroline for me. Apparently, she wanted to watch "Bear and Sesame."

What??

For those who have seen Jungle Book, you might be able to decipher the title of the song, "Bear Necessities"

Yep. That is Caroline's title for Bear Necessities: Bear and Sesame. Cute eh?

Here's some pictures from Easter this year. The dress Caroline is wearing is from my friend, Michelle. It has the beautiful ladybug clippy and a ladybug purse to match! Way too cute!

Easter 2009 at our front door.

Ladybug clippy

Caroline helping doing home repairs. Don't worry, the outlet was off.

Talking with Daddy on the phone. Note the newborn diaper on Kitty.

Peter will be testing for his blue belt in May. Also, Rick will be going to Dubai in May. Yep, Dubai. And yes, he will be working in the tallest tower in the world-but he'll be working in the basement of that tower, which suits him just fine, thank you. He will get a tour of the tower, I'm sure and he will be bringing a camera so I'll post those when he comes back.

Summer is coming!! Yay! We're going to go to the pool, the beach, the pool, the zoo perhaps, the pool...did I mention the pool?

Welcome to the Blog World, Karen!

2009-04-13T13:24:00.001-07:00

My friend, Karen has just joined the blog world! She is mom to Cody (the same Cody she "never wanted to play with ever again!") Yes, the very same one!

We could not survive motherhood without our kids' playdates and babysitting each other's kids. When we both want a night out, we have our girls night out and the husbands count down the hours to our return....

Check out her blog and welcome her to the blogosphere!

Wheee!

2009-04-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

My bloggy friend, Stefanie and her family are off to China again! They are bringing home Andrew David. You have to see this little guy! He's a cutie-pie with just a hint of mischief in his face.

Like many of the bloggy friends, she and I have never met face to face, but have "known" each other since 2004 when we were on a Yahoo group for those who would be adopting from China and had their dossiers into the China Center for Adoption Affairs in August, 2004. Six months later, we received the referrals (pictures and information) about our children waiting for us in China. The wait times for China have increased substantially (about a 4 year wait now) and her story had twists and turns along the way, but Stefanie has maintained faith for 45 months that she has another child in China waiting for their family.

I'm excited to watch her journey and see little Andrew in their arms soon! Lots of prayers have been prayed for this little guy and he will soon be welcomed to his forever family.

Rena's Baby Shower

2009-03-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was super-busy! My friend and encourager, Rena had her baby shower. It was a lovely event and the mom-to-be was just radiant. Rena has encouraged me in my business pursuit and has been invaluable in her advice and suggestions! She is also quite the entrepreneur herself! She is not only an extremely talented actress and singer, she is an accomplished pianist after only having a few years of lessons, she is an artist who is a magician with a paintbrush, and to top it off, she has her Masters in Mathematics and is a college professor who has recently pioneered online math classes through the local college. If that wasn't enough, she has created and is currently marketing math instructional videos! When God was handing out talent, He decided that Rena should have multiple giftings. Truthfully, though, she worked very hard to accomplish all that she has. She has worked to develop the giftings she has been given. And yet, she is one of the most gracious and humble people you will ever meet. I am honored to call her my friend. She and her husband had been fantastic foster parents to some family members' children for almost 2 years while all the while trying to have a family of their own with no success and even a miscarriage and at the same time, Rena lost her mom to illness. Through it all, she always kept a cheerful disposition in public, continued to help others over herself, and never let herself get bitter.

I gave her the highly blog-recommended Miracle Blanket. It was not on her list, but it was all the buzz in blogdom and I think she and her husband will love the sleep it will give them.

Do You Have a Beach'n Baby?

One of the other gifts she was given was some cute items from Beachnbaby. The owner of this line is a friend of Rena's for several years and started this clothing line about 18 months ago and it's doing well! If you like the beach, or like surf-inspired clothing, I encourage you to check out this clothing line. The items were so cute and Rena even tried on the bib, but that picture came out too blurry to post. The best part is that Beachnbaby's goal is to start a foundation for infants and children that are abandoned! Isn't that great??

Another item that was great was a Baby Owner's Manual. For those who always said that babies don't come with a manual...now they do, complete with charts, graphs, and measurements! :)

As you can see, she is quite pregnant. The baby (a boy!) is already 5lbs, 6 oz and she still has 8 weeks to go!

We love you Rena! You're going to be a terrific mom!

A Good Laugh

2009-03-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

Today Caroline had a playdate with my friend's little boy, Cody. The problem is that sometimes they fight and Caroline is usually the more vocal one about it. Today they were arguing and saying, "I don't want to play with you anymore." My friend, Karen finally said, "Just stop saying you don't want to play and go play." They agreed and went on playing.

So I pick up Caroline a few hours later and she has decided, yet again, that she doesn't want to play with Cody ANYMORE and so I opened the car door and she got in. I continued my conversation with Karen when suddenly Caroline honked the horn. I didn't know she knew how to do that! I never honk the horn! Anyway, she opened the car door and loudly proclaimed with all her newly-5-year-old-attitude that, "I don't ever want to play with Cody again. Not today, not tomorrow, not Thursday, not even Saturday!!!"

Me: "How about Wednesday?"

C: "That'll work."

Karen and I laughed so hard we almost peed our respective pants.

2009-03-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well, as expected, Peter passed his green belt test with flying colors! They all did so well that Master Yoo was energized and excited that his students did so well.

Getting his belt from Master Yoo

The whole class after the test.

As part of their test, they needed to break a board with a kick. Unfortunately, Peter's board broke in his hands before the test. It broke the tension a little and everyone was giggling-pretty loudly! Master Yoo said Peter had a "strong mind" to break it before he kicked it. Uh...yeah...that's it...

Of course, his friend (and future fiance...I'm just sayin') Emily will now move up and join him in the intermediate classes. They are both happy about that. (I'm just sayin'....)

Emily and Peter before the test.

I am so proud to be this boys mama, let me tell you! He's a great kid with a great heart and tries his best at almost everything (ok, so he's not PERFECT! He's just almost perfect, in my eyes anyway. Just the way I like it.)

Caroline is still loving her scooter and has learned to glide on one foot down the street. I know, I know. Her helmet is not on. It appears we have misplaced it, but will find it soon. After these pictures were taken, I found her old helmet that doesn't fit well, but it was better than nothing.

Caroline gliding on one foot.

I take no credit for her fashion choice here. I asked her to get dressed and this is what she decided on. But look at her balance on the back wheels!

Tomorrow we say goodbye to our pastor of 15 years. He has been promoted to overseer of all the S. California Foursquare churches. I'm excited to meet our new pastor, but am sad to see Pastor John go. I will talk more about that after tomorrow.

Have a great week!

Of Scooters and Computers

2009-03-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

So, Caroline gets a scooter for her birthday from her Aunt Dana. Remember the beloved bike she received not a month ago?? Yeah, well apparently she has forgotten about it too, much to the delight of her Aunt. The scooter is reigning supreme right now, but not to worry, she will be back on her bike as soon as she is ready, which will be soon, I'm sure. In this picture, she is on day 2 of a 3-day marathon of wearing the Alice in Wonderland dress.

Peter, on the other hand, managed to find a good use for Caroline's Wiki-Stiks:

His spelling is good, format and use of case need improvement.

Tomorrow he goes for his green stripe belt test. He and I are both confident he will pass. In the meantime, here's a cute picture of togetherness in front of the computer:

Yep, nothing says togetherness like sharing a chair and a computer game. Ahhh.

Princess Tea Party and 4 Years Ago Today

2009-03-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

Four years ago today, we were handed the most precious jewel in all of China. Four years of praying for the child who would complete our family ended a 3-year struggle of trying to complete our family. We had numerous attempts resulting in being lied to by some, travel arrangements out of state by others, overseas attempts to trick us into getting them a visa so they could "have the baby here" (thank God for good counsel against that!), two held babies that we had to release, broken dreams and broken hearts. Through it all, we saw the hand of God directing us to a little baby who was completely unaware that she was living in an orphanage. She just knew she had other babies around her and that the nannies were taking care of them.

When we received Caroline in China, we were handed a very frightened and confused little baby. Our guide called our name and a man handed her to me whereupon she immediately cried and didn’t stop for quite some time. We were later told on the bus that she was afraid of strangers (Great!). She was sick with bronchitis, had a flat spot on the back left side of her head (still does), was sweaty from 3 layers of clothes, her hair was greasy and smelled of wood smoke – and she was all ours…forever. I remember that one of the first things I did was turn around and call Peter over to meet his sister. She didn’t like him either. But eventually she thought he was pretty cool.

Here is the Gotcha Day Video.

We spent the first day getting to know each other in between crying bouts. If one of us was holding her and she was calm, it was with great trepidation that we handed her off to the other parent because we knew she would cry again. By day 3, she was laughing and playing with us (seen about 1 minute into the video)

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We brought her home to meet family and friends, but she would not let anyone but Mommy or Daddy hold her and put a hand out to keep people at bay. Yes, even at one year old, she could communicate quite well. It was a trying time because everyone was happy to meet her, but she wanted nothing to do with them.

By two, it was a little better, but she would still play shy and hide behind Mommy. However, if you were at her house and sat down, you became her new play toy. Still, it was difficult because she would still not readily go to family members who loved her so much and were trying hard to be patient. I loved dressing her up in dresses and curling her hair. Cuddling with her was wonderful and I tried not to miss any opportunity.

By three, she was growing into a beautiful little girl who could hold her own at home, but still hid behind Mommy everywhere else. If she didn’t feel comfortable around someone, she could give them a look that said more than any words could about how she felt. She snored terribly and had to have her tonsils and adenoids removed to help her breathe at night.

By four, she was enjoying her extended family once she warmed up a bit. She could still give you the "hairy eyeball" though. She had become quite self-assured and confident and just a little saucy too. She learned to be a little more polite and the Sunday School teachers loved having her in class. She knew just what buttons to push to annoy her brother and learned her letters and sounds.

Today we had her Princess Tea Party with 4 of her friends. Simple sandwiches, cookies, and cupcakes (pink of course!) were on the menu along with Milk Tea (decaf tea with LOTS of milk and some vanilla). The little ladies were so cute and played well together in the backyard, clinked their cups together in Cheers, and had a splendid time playing hot potato, duck-duck-goose, red-light-green-light and opening gifts. Maya's mom, Michelle helped with pouring tea and milk and the table decorations were courtesy of my other friend, Michelle (yes 2 Michelles). She used them for her daughter's 5th birthday 2 years ago.

Caroline wanted to take my picture with her kitty this morning. Apparently, the focus of the picture was kitty and not me.

The girls and me.

Beautiful table decorations courtesy of Michelle

Mommy and Caroline

Caroline was simply over the moon about wearing her Alice in Wonderland dress. (backstory here: Many years ago I was having teller training for a bank I was working at. My co-worker and I stayed at a hotel near Disneyland and we went to the Disney store-this was before they started having them in malls everywhere). I saw the Alice dress and was so smitten with it that my co-worker told me I needed to have a girl so I could get that dress for her someday. Wouldn't you know that all these years later, MY daughter ONLY wanted an Alice dress. No princess dress for her, just Alice. That red thread thing again....) She wanted to wear it from the time she got up this morning, but I had to set the timer and tell her when the timer went off, she could wear it. Weeelllll.....I got impatient and put her in it early. Go ahead and laugh. Rick did.

Isn't she cute????

We're not done with the birthday celebrations yet. We still have family coming over tomorrow to celebrate with tri-tip and yes, more cupcakes! Then I can collapse. The thing is, we do milestone birthdays around here (i.e. 1st birthday, 5th, 10th, and if we let them live through the teen years, 16th and 18th. The rest of the birthdays are celebrated on a much smaller scale. Peter turns 10 this year so we will have a big party in July.

As seen in the video from yesterday's post, she thought 4 was boring and is loving being 5.

But she will always be my baby girl. I love you so much, my precious Caroline.

Caroline's Birthday at Disneyland

2009-03-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

We woke Caroline up yesterday morning and said, "Good Morning and Happy Birthday!" She said, "Thank you" in the cutest little wakey-uppy-voice. I said, "How old are you today, Caroline?" She immediately held up 5 fingers. So cute and so smart. Up until yesterday, she was holding up 4 fingers. We measured her as we do with both our children every year on their birthday. As you can see, Peter's markings are a bit higher than Caroline's.

Caroline measures in

After a few stops and starts (forgot to lock the front door, drove 15 minutes back to lock it), we finally got out the door and off to Disneyland/California Adventure.

First we went to California Adventure and went to every ride in Bug's Land. Well, I didn't do Francis' Ladybug twirly-thingy because I don't like to see my lunch a second time. On to Toy Story's Midway Mania (one of the best rides there!). I scored 125000 points, a personal best for me. Lots and lots of birthdays there due to Disneyland and Calif Adventure now offering a free day at Disneyland on your birthday. Caroline was a bit disappointed to find out that she doesn't have exclusive rights to a March 12th birthday....

"I'm five!!"

Francis' Ladybug Boogie

Disneyland was great. Lots of smiling people and smaller-than-a-Saturday crowd. She told everyone she met that she was 5! She also met MANY people MUCH older than her (ahem!) who shared her birthday-most declined to give their age. :) Apparently, Disney's current marketing of going to the park for free on your birthday is working very well.

She asked if she could scream on some of the roller coasters. I said, "Sure." BIG MISTAKE! She screamed so loud I thought we'd get kicked out of the park! She screamed for only one reason: she could. And man could she ever!! We got off the ride to a mixture of stares and laughter. And that was on Gadget's Go Coaster - a 45-second ride that goes fast, but is designed for little kids so it's not scary. Next was Big Thunder Railroad. A fast-moving, rockin' ride designed for the 10 and up crowd. She again screamed so loud and for so long that the woman behind me thought she would be hoarse afterward. She wasn't. People waiting in line were laughing at this little peanut with a loud scream.

Inside the Roger Rabbit ride line.

Did you know that if you have a current Disneyland season pass then you can have a choice of getting a 1-day pass to be used later, a gift card in the amount of a 1-day pass, or an all-day fast pass? We opted for the gift card and Caroline got an Alice in Wonderland dress for her princess tea party tomorrow. I was hoping to get a princess outfit, but she reaaaaaalllly wanted an Alice dress, so I figured..hmm...Alice in Wonderland...tea party...yep, that'll work!

As we were leaving, we watched some of the fireworks from the parking lot. That's where we met one more gentleman who was having a birthday. Here's the video from that.

So tomorrow we have a princess tea party with a few friends and then on Sunday I am having family over. Then we are soooo done with parties! Sheesh!

My wonderful husband gave me a coupon for our anniversary for a date night on April 3rd! As mentioned in the last post, we gave each other the exact same anniversary card this year. How's that for being married a long time? We got a good laugh about that.

As it turns out, like Caroline we do not have exclusive rights to March 12th as our anniversary. I just met this lovely woman and her family last night through another bloggy friend. She is the blessed mommy of two beautiful Chinese daughters and two other beautiful children that came to their family without the fuss of paperwork :) She and her husband not only share the love of China and her children, but we were both apparently married on the same day!

Birthday and Anniversary!

2009-03-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

Today my baby girl turns 5. Hard to believe it has been nearly 4 years since we brought her home after receiving her just two days after her first birthday. In fact, on her first birthday, March 12, 2005, we were perched atop the Great Wall of China anticipating that in 2 days, we would hold our long-awaited daughter and sister in our arms for the first time. The very child we prayed for for 4 years.

At the time, I was sad that we could not be with her from birth like we were with Peter, but we are now so grateful to God that we were able to bring her home and still witness several firsts: first crawl, first walk, first sign-language ("more"). It was a bit like having an infant, but accelerated. She was physically delayed when we received her. Most 1 year olds can sit up and crawl. She could not. In fact, she did not crawl until 14 months and walked just 2 weeks later. Now I can't keep up with her!

In the fall she will start kindergarten. I know she will enjoy it. She is smart and inquisitive and will often talk my ear off with questions that she already knows the answer to. Singing in the car to her own tune and lyrics ("And they sky is blue and a red car went by, and No Trucks Allowed...") She is also learning concepts of adding and subtracting.

Yesterday, my older baby, Peter, lost another tooth. This time, he lost it at school during lunch. He bit into his sandwich and out it came (no the bread was not stale!). They sent him to the office where they gave him a little tooth-shaped container to hold his tooth and put it on a string to hang around his neck. Cute, huh? You can just see the dark space on the lower left. I would show you the other picture we took up close, but it's not for the squeamish.

We will be at Disneyland all day today. Not only are we celebrating Caroline's birthday, but we are also celebrating 15 years of marriage! Yes, that's right. Caroline was born on our 10th anniversary. Rick gave me a beautiful diamond tennis bracelet for that anniversary and that will be given to Caroline when she turns 18. I can't imagine going through the last 15 years without my wonderful husband. God has used him to show me unconditional love, acceptance, and has certainly shown me what a real man is. He has held my hand and my heart during the long and twisty road to parenthood. He has never once made me feel like less than a woman because we could not conceive children, he has staunchly defended me and our children, and has supported me through the illness and subsequent death of my mom.

Mr. and Mrs. Horvet, March 12, 1994

You know you've been married a long time when you give each other the VERY SAME anniversary card like we did this year. He bought his at Target, I bought mine at Ralphs.

I love you, Honey. Happy Anniversary. Here's to us.

2009-03-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

Caroline's friend, McKenna turned 5 on Sunday. Her party was so much fun and the little princesses and two princes had a great time jumping on the trampoline, playing duck, duck, goose, hot potato (with a real potato), pin the gems on Strawberry Shortcake's tiara, and eating cupcakes! (They were yummy, by the way! Mmmm.) Caroline won the hot potato game and no one wanted to wear the mask to cover their eyes to pin the gem on the tiara. Hmmmm. Is that cheating? I guess if everyone is doing it, then it's not cheating?? Ok, they're 4-5 year olds, so I guess we'll cut them some slack. I don't think it will mean that they are doomed for prison...

McKenna and Caroline before the party began. In the background is Princess Strawberry Shortcake.

Chicken nuggets and Mac and cheese before the cupcakes.

Duck, Duck, Goose

Caroline winning Hot Potato
Apparently, they all felt McKenna could not open her gifts by herself.
Ahh...sharing.

Caroline turns 5 on Thursday and we are planning a Disneyland trip for the occasion. I'll post some pictures when we get back.

And here's proof that sometimes my kids like each other:

Have a great week!

Velodrome Racing and Princess Tea!

2009-03-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

We have been busy as little bees around here! I've been working on a business proposal which has consumed much of my time. But we've managed to take Saturday and watch my nephew bike race at the Velodrome. I've never been there before and it was fun to watch some great racing. In fact, Alex ended up racing against a member of the 1988 US Olympic team! She beat him, of course. He's only 13 and she is....well...not. And she trained for years and years and he's trained for months and months.

Here's Alex doing his time trials.

Alex and the Olympian. Sorry, I do not know her name, but she was so nice!

Yesterday, Caroline had a playdate with her friend, McKenna. Our two families traveled to China together and the girls are from the same orphanage and are just a few days apart in age. Along with Abby, it's a lot like sisters - yes, squabbles and all. Oh the drama of being girls. They did, however have a marvelous tea party in their princess dresses, played Pooh Bear's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure on the game cube, and enjoyed a delightful time with Play Doh!

Caroline and McKenna saying, "Cheers!"

This month, Caroline will be 5. Hard to believe it's been almost 4 years since our three families traveled to China, all of us flying into the great unknown of international adoption. We have all been blessed by plucking the three most precious treasures out of China. I will post more about our journey to our daughters as it gets closer to the anniversary. Stay tuned!