Dylan's Day and Dancing

We started our day with a 5k for Dylan. Dylan's parents work for the school district I work in and Dylan is in Erin Joy's preschool class. He is fighting brain cancer and our community held a 5k, auction, BBQ, and other events in a special "Dylan's Day." The money raised will be used to help pay medical bills and send the family to Disneyland. Dylan is so sweet and a very special boy. We continue to pray for him and for his family.

After the 5k, we rushed to Seattle (didn't get a speeding ticket this time...) so the girls could dance at the Seattle Center for the Chinese Culture and Arts Festival. They did a great job.

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Erin Joy insisted on bringing her porcupine (it is really a hedgehog, but I gave up trying to convince her) because her porcupine must go wherever she goes.  It has a big "E" written with permanent marker on its chest marking proud ownership.  Erin Joy couldn't figure out why Dylan's name was on her running number so she made another tag that said, "Erin Joy" and we pinned it below the real tag.

Rachel insisted on wearing her boots to run in.  Her PE teacher wouldn't approve, but she did just fine in her stylish boots.  Notice her shades and her tucked in shirt...she is definitely the only fashion-conscious member of our family:)

Erin Joy giving Dylan a hug before the race.

The girls left me in the dust at the beginning, but later ran out of steam and whined and complained.

After the dance performance, all the dancers posed for a picture.  Erin Joy and Rachel had already changed their clothes.

A video with clips of their performance...

Four Years Ago...

...I held Erin Joy for the first time. Happy Family Day, sweet Erin Joy! I love you! Tonight as she placed a fourth ornament on her adoption I just wanted to squeeze her and hold her close forever...she is growing so fast.


Dear Erin Joy,

I held you for the first time on May 29, 2005.  I had loved you and wanted you so badly as I navigated through the long paperwork process.  Waiting for you was incredibly hard as I looked at your picture for almost a year before you were finally in my arms.

I remember that day so well.  At first, you were indifferent to the changes happening in your life, however, after a few hours the crying began.  I didn't know a child could cry so long.  One night as you continued to cry uncontrollably, three year old Rachel said, "Maybe she needs her mom." I was your mother!!  You didn't want me.  Watching you mourn was really hard.  You had a very hard transition.

Looking back on those early days, it is hard to imagine my sweet, loving, caring, and gentle daughter so terrified and so upset.  You truly are a different child than you were four years ago.

Sweet Erin Joy...how I love being your mother.  Your name fits you well.  JOY.  You have brought so much joy into my life.  You are so full of joy and happiness.  You bring joy to others.  I find such joy knowing you and loving you.

Thank-you for joining our family, Erin Joy!  Happy Family Forever Day!  I love you so much.  I am so grateful you are my daughter.

I made this little movie about a month ago and uploaded it to Youtube.  It has already had 43 views.  If you were one of them, I guess you don't need to watch it again.  

Preschool Graduation

My baby is no longer a baby. Preschool is officially over for Erin Joy and she will begin kindergarten in the fall. I have heard that Moms get emotional when their first child and their last child go to kindergarten. Well, what happens when you only have two children?? Sigh....

Erin Joy is ready for kindergarten. She has made amazing progress the past few years. She was so excited for her preschool "gradulation" tonight. She did very well in her program. I love you, Erin Joy!!!

Zoo

It was a beautiful day...perfect day for the zoo. I think most of the people in Seattle thought it was the perfect day for the zoo, too. It was very crowded. The girls were disappointed that the birds didn't want to eat the birdseed on their sticks. The birds were very full by the time we got there. We did enjoy watching two very stubborn giraffes cross the road. It took a lot of food and a lot of prodding to get the giraffes to go where the zoo keepers wanted them to go.

Rachel said her favorite part of the zoo was eating nachos. Erin Joy said her favorite part of the zoo was cotton candy. Figures. I enjoyed the penguins and I enjoyed being with my girls. I was tired of walking and my feet were sore even though I wore good walking shoes. I told the girls to wear good walking shoes...they both wore flip flops. Erin Joy's flip flops didn't even match...watch closely and you will see a picture of her shoes in the movie. I was the only one with good walking shoes and I was the only one with tired feet by the end of the day. Figures. Old age.

Piano Recital

Rachel did a fabulous job at her piano recital. She didn't seem nervous at all. I was probably more nervous that she was...

Happy Day

No more laser surgeries for Erin Joy!  Today her dermatologist confirmed what we have suspected...her birthmark is as light as it is going to be with current technology.  The remaining blood vessels are still dilated and as the blood pools, her birthmark will get darker over time and she will need more treatments in about 3-5 years.  We are done for now, though.  No more trips to Children's Hospital every 2-3 months!  YIPPEE!!!

We celebrated after the doctor's appointment by going to Chuck E Cheese and then the Children's Museum.  It was a great and very happy day!!!

Future Pianists

I took video of Rachel playing her songs for the piano recital in case she gets nervous and doesn't play as well.  Her piano teacher wouldn't approve of the way she is sitting on the piano bench.  She wouldn't approve of Erin Joy eating a snack and putting her wrapper on the piano.  She wouldn't approve of my very out-of-tune piano either.  Sigh.  Someday I'm going to get it tuned...it just isn't high priority now.

Erin Joy plays a song after Rachel is finished. Enjoy!!

Whale Watching Movie

I got some good pictures of the whales from my cousin and made a little movie.  I took the pictures of my students out of the slide show, but I left a few pictures of our cousins and neighbors in the movie because I know they won't mind.  The only music I could find that kind of matched the pictures was "Baby Beluga" by Raffi.  Yes, I know the difference between an orca and a beluga, but that's the best I could do.

Fabulous Weekend (whale watching and hiking)

We went whale watching with my fourth graders on Saturday.  It was fabulous!  The weather was perfect, the company was perfect, and we saw whales--J-pod--my favorite pod!  In addition to my fourth grader, my parents came from Idaho, and our cousins joined us.  

I didn't get ANY good pictures of whales.  I did get a few, but they weren't as good as the pictures other people got. I'm hoping others will share.

I made a little movie, but there are too many pictures of my school kids and I don't want to put it on this blog for privacy reasons. If you want to see good pictures of whales, check out the little movie my cousin made on his family blog.  Click here. 

We were fortunate enough to have one whale swim right towards the boat and go under our boat.  There are laws preventing whale watching boats from getting within 100 yards of whales, but when one swims toward the boat, it can't be helped.  Of course, I didn't get a picture of the whale, but it was incredible.

The only bad part of the trip was a speeding ticket.  I really need to control my lead foot...

A whale watching boat similar to the one we were on:

Just a little windy on our boat (this is my favorite picture...)
We are SO GLAD Grandma and Grandpa came with us!!!

After whale watching we enjoyed playing by the river.

Hiking to an old railroad tunnel the next morning....


Rough trail over a rock slide...
Can you see the old railroad?

One of the many railroad tunnels along the old Monte Cristo railroad (the only tunnel we could get to safely...)

Duct Tape Fixes Everything

A few days ago, Erin Joy was angry and took her anger out on one of her favorite books, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  She began ripping the pages.  After her anger subsided, she was very sorry for her behavior and very sorry for what she had done to her book.  I told her she would have to tape it herself since she purposely ripped it.  She was very proud of her taping job.

Mother's Day Surprise

I loved the sweet Mother's Day gifts that my girls made in school and presented to me complete with hugs and kisses. I thought my Mother's Day surprises were over. Nope. While enjoying a fizzy bath, I heard whispered voices planning a surprise. Several times I said, "I sure would like a clean house. A clean house would be a great gift. I would love a clean house surprise for Mother's Day." Well, the clean house didn't happen, but I was presented with another surprise.

After being pestered to get out of my nice warm fizzy tub, my girls said, "Surprise! We made you lunch for Mother's Day!"

Rachel presented me with chips and salsa. Definitely a favorite of mine....

Erin Joy presented me with another favorite, hot and sour soup. She made it with left over Captain Crunch cereal and milk that had been sitting on the table for a few hours, left over mashed potatoes and gravy from the fridge, a few raisins, salsa, and Italian salad dressing all mixed together with love.

It tastes about as good as it looks. Yes, I actually tasted it. I told her I would have one bite now and save the rest for after church. I hope she forgets about it after church....

Happy Mother's Day!!! I love being a mother and I love surprises from my girls!!

Fun Mother's Day Award

Click here to see the award

Be sure to read the scrolling news at the bottom and be sure to listen to the very end (it's short anyway..) I laughed when I learned that pulling my hair back into a ponytail is not the same thing as taking a shower. Darn. I really thought it was :)

Mothers

This is one of those forwarded emails, but I had never seen it before and I liked it so maybe you will too...

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough
Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what
The vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me? '
And get their answer when a little voice says, 'Because I love you best.. '

Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother...

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, Because that is the doorway to her heart, The place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Zoo and Other Fun Things

Yesterday, Erin Joy and I made a Mother's Day wheelbarrow at Home Depot while Rachel was at dance class.  By the way, the August project is a message board with Chinese characters.  Home Depot has free kid projects the first Saturday of every month.  My girls love it!  They have quite a few pins from various projects on their Home Depot aprons.  We love the high quality projects.  We are really excited about August's project (at least I am) and since many people that read this blog also have children adopted from China, I thought you might want to know.

While Erin Joy was at dance class, Rachel and I enjoyed hot and sour soup at our favorite restaurant.

We then went to the zoo to see the new penguin exhibit.  It rained in the morning and cleared up just in time for the zoo.  Just when we were ready to leave the zoo, it poured.  We left all of our rain gear in the car, so we were SOAKED walking back to the car.  It was fun until it started raining.  It was fun even when it rained.  I sang, "I'm singing in the rain."  Rachel started to sing, "I'm freezing in the rain."  Erin Joy started to cry.

We didn't have much time so we didn't see much of the zoo.  We did enjoy the penguins, gorillas, a puppet show, and feeding the birds.  We'll just have to go back another day to see more.  By the way, we loved the gorilla showing off for us.  He would stop playing, but then we would clap and he would start playing the log like a drum.  He was definitely doing it for the audience.  (I am assuming it was a "he."  It could have been a "she."  Definitely a teenage gorilla showing off though).  We were glad to see the gorilla show because we didn't make it to the orangutans and we love the orangutans.  

Anyway, here is a movie with pictures from our day.  Rachel chose the music so it has nothing to do with the pictures.  I couldn't stand to use "Going to the Zoo" again.  

Ready For Broadway

The girls entertained themselves on the way home from the zoo, by singing along to "Broadway Hits for Kids" and videotaping themselves in the car.

Erin Joy's Letter

Please ignore the clothes all over the floor.  Not only were there dirty clothes on the floor, we have been going through clothes trying to find summer clothes that fit.

Field Trip

Guess who got to be a chaperone on the first grade field trip!!!  It was so much more fun to go on a field trip as a parent instead of a teacher.    Rachel enjoyed a day at the science center and butterfly house with her classmates and I enjoyed a day off work and spending time with her.