Dreaming of a white New Year

We really could have used some snow by now.  Snow angels are just not the same.

Christmas morning, pre chaos.

Mid chaos.

Post chaos.

Cute panda  chaos.
Or would that be pandamonium?

Tastebud chaos. Yummy Christmas morning breakfast, homemade caramel rolls.

Hoping everyone had an enjoyable Christmas.

I'm typing this at 11:56 pm on 12/31/2011.

Happy New Year 2012!

Come on in Linny!

Blogger and mom to many, Linny at A Place Called Simplicity has asked if she can come in and visit.  So come on in Linny!


When you first drive up, you'll see the front of our house (in much milder weather, mind you!)

Please come in our front door

This is the entryway into the living room.  Don't trip on Lily!

 

Ignore the critters on the couch.  Hope you aren't allergic.

 

The girls are busy decorating the tree.  Don't you love the gloves Rose is wearing?  It is quite the prickly tree this year.

That's the four of us on the couch.

There's Lily at my computer desk.  She's wearing a plastic cover that Doug uses (in this case, USED) for rising bread dough.

Speaking of Doug, here he is in the kitchen/dining room.  He does his best work here :)

That's one of his sous chefs in the next photo.

I'd invite you to join me for some tea or lemonade on the deck, but this is what it looked like last year.  Just a dusting of snow is out there today, but it's below freezing.

Could you join us (Rose and my sister) for some tea?  Would you like sugar?  Fancy attire not required.  But we do like hats.

A little entertainment while we visit (Yes, the bookshelves are chaotic.  That's how I am).

And after having a lovely visit with you, we can't send you off without a kiss

 and a HUG.

Thank you for coming by.  Merry Christmas Linny!  Wishing you an easy settle into your new home and community, and for many blessings in the coming year.


PS - Thank you for sharing your journeys and your family with us.   You've really given me a better outlook on life and what is important and what isn't.  Looking forward to many more miracles.


Your Cyber Friend,
Nancy

Santa Trauma

Getting a usable Christmas photo of the girls is becoming quite the expedition.  

This was our first attempt, at home.  More frequently than not, before I could press the button, they'd end up distracted or goofy, or just land in a big lump of pile-o-girls:

Then there was last nights attempt.   Poor Lily really does not like sitting on Santa's lap, even with big sister's safety and encouragement.  When they were done, I held her and she was shaking and sobbing and clinging for dear life to me.  Thirty bucks later, this is what we get.

Lest you have forgotten last years photo, here's a reminder.  Looks familiar, right?  At least this year Lily has hair.  Ha!

So, now I'm thinking...heck, let's just have them stand in front of the mall's decorations and be done with it.  How hard can that be?   Here is the result of that brilliant idea.  It's like herding cats!  Honestly, Doug and I aren't complete losers, we just seem to be photography challenged.  Lily does have legs, trust me.  You can see them flailing in the Santa photos above.

There's more to the story.  We had to stand in line over an hour.  For our entertainment, it was Pose your Pet with Santa night.  Note to self:  check schedule next year.  Try keeping a 2 year old off the floor in her pretty dress with white tights when there is the chance there could be some not quite nice presents from the animal world lurking there.  And get this:  Everyone in line, whether you had a pet or not, had to sign a liability waiver thingy.  This photo taking adventure is getting risky!

I decided to take Lily out of line to go get all of us something to eat and drink.  What does Lily do?  She runs, so happy to be free, and runs smack dab into a wooden chair.  With her forehead.  In front of the audiance in line for Santa photos.    Just making sure I don't get blessed with a "good mom" award.  Thankfully the bruise didn't show up until after all the crappy photos.  And security wasn't called.

The Santa and photo and chair trauma was eased by a stint in a store with this cute stuffed animal police doggy.  Happiness reigned for a good 15 minutes, until it was time to leave.  Fortunately, a quick thinking sales clerk broke out some stickers before mass hysteria started in again.

Lily says:  Dear Santa who I don't quite like just yet, I would really like one of these fun roller-skating doggies from Build-a-Bear.  It might make me change my mind about you.

Might.

So anyone who may normally get a photo from us this year, don't hold your breath.  If we do manage to score a good one,  I guess we will all be pleasantly surprised!  In the meantime, I'm gonna brush up on my PhotoShop skills.

Newest Furry Family Member

No need to call Child Protective Services, she put herself in there.

But I do want to introduce our newest pet, who will probably go by the name Scruffy.  He is very much like our previous doggy Sasha, lots of Wire Fox Terrier, about the same size and weight, and pretty darn sweet.  He was rescued by a MN organization called Second Hand Hounds, and he was saved from euthenasia from a pound in Missouri.  He does need a little training, but he is very good with the kids and the cats.  So far he hasn't barked for us (nor the foster family) and I suspect he may have damaged vocal cords.  He can whine though.

I'm a little late with Halloween photos, but here they are nonetheless!

Rose was an angel, and Lily was a pumpkin.  They both had a good time despite the cold weather.  Rose asked me not to eat her candy this year, I guess I'm busted from last year.  I didn't think she noticed.  Good thing Lily is too young to notice :)

Us girls out for an autumn walk, stopping to take a rock sitting break.

 Yo!  Waz' up?

This cracked me up.  Lily watched me blow up this inflatable Kemps Cow, and when I was done she tried to blow it up through the udders. hee hee 

Other than the doggie and snow now on the ground, not much else new happening here.  I hope everyone has a grateful Thanksgiving, and gets to spend time with loved ones.  

Lily's 1st Haircut

Before...she really didn't want to be in that chair!

After...little Miss Confident!

This is Lily's first hair cut with us.  She has fine, wispy hair.  She looks so much older now! 


Afterwards, we went to Lowe's to get paint samples, where she grabbed a piece of advertising material, laid down in an aisle, and proceeded to scribble.  She would have sat there all day entertaining all the customers with her cuteness and smiles, and wasn't happy when I made her get up.


What have we been up to lately?  Lily and I attend ECFE once a week, and try to get outside at least once a day while the weather is still mild.  This week we went to an indoor gym time where kids can run free, ride toy vehicles, throw balls, etc.  Here she discovered the words "no, no, no, no, no, NO!" whenever someone wanted the toy she was using.  


We went to lunch one day at a local diner, and for being only 24 months old, she was the best lunch companion ever!  I was so amazed at how well she did, and it was complete pride and joy the entire time being there with her.   She waved at people, was blowing kisses to an elderly couple near us, and had the wait staff wrapped around her little finger.  She eats almost anything, so its fun getting to share meals with her.


Rose is in 3rd grade at her Chinese immersion school and is doing well.  She and her classmates have been practicing to sing at a public performance with a large Chinese chorus later this month.  


She continues to take Chinese dance classes at her school once a week after school.  She is also a Brownie in Girl Scouts.  Mom thinks that is fun since she was a Girl Scout too, but really has a hard time putting all the patches on her sash.   Rose and a friend just finished six weeks of learning how to play soccer.  The last lesson this week it was completely dark out by the time they finished.  And it was also about 40 degrees.  I'm glad they are done!


I'm trying to get motivated to make some changes around our house to better utilize the space.  We seem to have run out of space, and it's feeling really cramped.  We are hoping to redo Rose's room to make room for a desk and to manage the growing number of books she has.  The girl loves to read read read, and it's hard to say no to that.  The hardest part is getting rid of stuff.  We also want to make a play area for the girls in the basement, but it means a lot of stuff will need to go.  Peter Walsh where are you?!!


Here's some photos of Rose, you can see she is growing up as well.  Rose has a great sense of humor and imagination.  She loves computers, is a whiz at computer games, and is still our nature girl.  She is becoming a great big-sister, teaching Lily new things, playing with her, and helping out too.  She is simply beautiful, inside and out.

Next post hopefully will be Halloween pictures.  See you then!

The first time I held you

One year ago in Nanchang Ch*na, I held Yi Xiao Bei for the very first time.  She came to us with some type of illness, and it was apparent she wasn't feeling well as I look at the photos back then.   We were told (through our guide interpreting) she was "sick", had been given an IV earlier in the day, and then we were handed a bag full of medicine, all written in Chinese.  Needless to say, it was rather unsettling.


She indeed was sick, with frequent vomiting and diarrhea as well as a fever.  When she didn't improve by the next afternoon, and in fact seemed to get worse, we took her to the hotel doctor, who had us stop the medicines and instead treat it like a cold.  The vomiting stopped shortly after stopping the medicines, the fever slowly came down, and after seven days the diarrhea finally stopped too. Looking back, she was so subdued and listless that first week, definitely not like the happy exuberant girl we now know!


Lily has a contagious smile and an infectious laugh.  She loves to "talk" (still has only about 5 words), can hum the entire Twinkle Twinkle Little Star tune, loves to play with water just like big sister, has a healthy appetite, and loves to swing on swings and go down the slide.  


She has the loudest scream when she spies a doggy out for a walk.  Calls for the dog-dogs next door to come to the fence.  Likes to be a little stinker and roll balls down the driveway and out into the road.  Understands way more than someone not quite two should.  Has a special radar for anything of Rose's.  Can bend and break eyeglasses faster than anyone I know. 


We waited 4 1/2 years for our little Lilybud, and are so grateful and humbled to call her our daughter.  She truly is a sweet ray of light.   We love you Lily!

China Travel Group Reunions

Rose's China travel group from June 2004 has been meeting annually.  At the end of July we met at a park, picnicked, played games and waded in the water for fishies.  It is always so heartwarming to see the girls as they grow up!  We missed a few families this year, we had a large group of 13 families in 2004, and 8 attended this year.  Grateful for the chance to keep in touch.

This weekend we visited with Lily's China travel group from September 2010.  We played at a playground, had dinner, some swam at a hotel together, and then we said goodbye after breakfast the next day.  We are a small group of just 3 families, and thankfully live close enough to get together.


What a difference a year  makes!

Here is a photo last year, of Willa, Lily and Sophie

Here they are from this weekend, in the same order.  Love that they all have the same brand shoes!  It is so fun to really see their personalities, they are each so different yet similar.

Friends hanging out (Willa was napping)

Big girls playing at the playground.

Little girls having lunch.

I have many more photos of summer fun to post, will try to get back soon to upload those.  Hard to believe it is already mid-August!

Dancing, Birthday, Outdoor Fun

Rose has been taking Chinese dance classes after school, and it ended with a dance performance for family and friends.  It sure was a pleasure seeing several different groups perform, everyone did such a nice job.

Rose turned 8 last Sunday, and we celebrated with our traditional made from scratch strawberry shortcakes!  We also did the traditional take cover in the basement under the stairs when severe weather entered into the scene twice on Roses' birthday.  Thankfully no damage, just rain rain and more rain.  

  

Lily loves getting to play the big girls!

First time in the sprinkler and kiddie pool for the season.  Finally warm enough for it.  This swimsuit on Lily is about the cutest there could be!  She loves the water just like her big sister.

Only four more days left of school for Rose, and then god help me.  Her summer will be filled with swim lessons, Animal Humane Society camp, CHSFS camp, Girl Scout camp and Chinese camp.  I'm grateful for the availability and the resources to attend these fun activities.