House Rules

I have very few possessions that I cherish.  I'm usually not concerned when something is ruined.  However, I LOVE my piano. It is an antique...made in 1890.  I don't want my children to be the ones who destroy an 1890 piano.  We have a rule:  NOTHING ON THE PIANO (this includes all toys, all crayons, and cats).  Notice how well my children follow that rule.  Notice how well our silly cat follows that rule.

Another Great Day at Jetty Island

We love Jetty Island! Yesterday we enjoyed a puppet show by the public library, making a necklace, and blowing bubbles. It was a perfect day for Jetty Island. As the tide came in, we ran to rescue our sand toys. I left the lid off the small cooler. The seagulls helped themselves to our lunch. One seagull flew off with a big bag of goldfish. Silly birds. Once when Rachel was about two years old, we were enjoyed a day at Jetty Island and a seagull pooped on her head. That was before I blogged. I just happened to be video taping her at the time and I caught it on video. I'll have to find it. It's pretty funny.

Today we are going to the zoo. Saturday, we will be going on a hike. We have to squeeze in as much fun stuff as possible because next week I have to get my classroom ready. The week after that I will be at boring teacher meetings and the following week school starts.

I dread the beginning of school. I love to teach. I don't know why I am dreading it so much. I just prefer letting my kids sleep as long as they want to. (Rachel is HORRIBLE at waking up during the school year.) I hate taking my kids to daycare. I love to play with my kids all day. I love having only fun things on the calendar.

OK....I'm not going to talk about school anymore. I'm just going to get the most out of my last few free days.....

Happy Olympics

Erin Joy didn't want to be the diver because it is too scary. She can lift weights instead.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Haircuts and Playing at the Park

Check out the new haircuts!  I tried to convince Rachel to donate her hair to "locks of love" but she refused to have that much cut off (she needed to get at least 10 inches cut).  She did agree to have about 6 inches removed.  I was so happy!  It will be much easier to take care of and I think it is really cute.  I really love Erin Joy's hair too.  I love her hair short and she agreed to have it cut short.  After the beautician was done, Erin Joy looked in the mirror and exclaimed, "I look like a boy!"  She doesn't look like a boy!  The beautician then put a bow in her hair to reassure her that she did indeed look like a beautiful girl.

We then enjoyed an afternoon at the park.  The girls enjoyed the splash park and all the playground equipment and I enjoyed taking pictures.  I also enjoyed making yet another movie on my Mac.  I really LOVE my Mac!!!

I hope you aren't sick of all my movies.  I figure you don't have to watch if you don't want to...

By the way....I am still finding Es around the house.  I didn't notice the coffee table had about 6 or 7 Es until this morning.  I'm glad she knows that letter so well.  I hope she eventually figures out the other 25....

Interior Decorator

Erin Joy has discovered what she will be when she grows up...an interior decorator. Rachel was dictating an email to me last night and Erin Joy was quietly playing. I was amazed that she was quiet for so long. Just when I began to wonder if the quiet house might be a sign of mischief, she confirmed my fears by crying. Erin Joy cries easily and I tend to ignore her crying. This time, however, her sobs were interrupted with apologies. "I sorry" sob, sob, "I sorry."

What was she sorry about? Watch the video to find out.....

Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!

Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!

Isn't this a cute outfit! I'm going to try to win this for our cousin, Mallory.  Mallory's mom loves to sew and would love this outfit.  I think it would look really cute on either one of my girls, too, but once again, I think it is too small.  Of course Rachel wore shorts the other day that were 2T.  Amazing.  She is so tiny.  

Birthday Party Fun

birthday party fun from Vimeo.

The girls had a great time at a "slip 'n slide" birthday party. They have a little hill in their yard so they made their own slide using tarps and sprinklers. I really wished I would have brought my suit. It sure looked like a lot of fun. Erin Joy never mustered up enough courage to slide down, but she had fun swinging, playing in the pool, and playing with her friends. I love the view from their backyard. They live across the river from us, but they have a much better view and being above the river, they are out of the flood zone that we live in. I took pictures of the kids with the great background behind them. I got a few good pictures of Erin Joy with a nice background.

It rained heavily last night and stopped 10 minutes before the party. When the party ended, it started raining again. We lucked out.

I made a movie and uploaded it with Vimeo. I usually use YouTube or Google Video, but I saw a video made with Vimeo on another blog and the quality seemed much better than YouTube or Google so I had to try it. It uploaded pretty quickly. Let me know if you can see a difference in the quality.

UPDATE: Well, I watched the video and it kind of cuts in and out, but I like the quality of the pictures better. I'm not happy they revealed my last name. I have been trying to not put my last name on my blog or divulge where I live (other than the Northwest) because I don't want any weirdos tracking my girls or me. Anyway...hopefully no serial killers are reading this.

The Almost Perfect Day

I love summer. I know I have said that before, but I'll say it again. I love summer. I am so sad that it is August. I am so sad that I am already getting mail, email, and even a phone call concerning school. I'm trying hard to ignore the calendar and enjoy every last minute of summer.

My favorite thing to do in the summer is nothing. That's what we did yesterday. We walked across the street to the river and played for hours. The girls built a town out of sand and played in the river. I played with them, relaxed in the sand, and read a magazine. Heaven. We then went back to our house and played in the swimming pool (to wash off the sand).

It would have been a perfect day, but Rachel was stung by a bee. Poor girl. It stung her on her eyelid. She screamed for quite some time. Her eye was swollen shut. I should have taken a picture. I'll take a picture this morning if it is still swollen. She is still sleeping. She loves to sleep. She will have a rude awakening....literally....when school starts.

Anyway, other than the bee sting, it was a perfect day.

Poll Winner

What did I spend too much money on? Well....not a trampoline. I bought myself a screen and a projector. Why? Well....I wanted a big screen to watch all the movies I am making. I wanted a big screen to watch homemade movies during the mid-autumn festival and Chinese New Year. I need a new TV so instead of buying a new TV...I bought this instead. My house is so small and I had a hard time trying to figure out where to put it. It looks really ugly hanging from the ceiling over the love seat, but that is the only place I could put it and get the projector back far enough. Oh well. You are all invited to come over for popcorn and a movie!

Tooth Fairy Time!

Rachel lost her first tooth in the car on the way back from Portland!  She is so excited!  Me too!  I had a little pain in my heart though...I remember when she had only four little teeth.  Now they are starting to fall out.  

The Tooth Fairy is bringing a special Susan B. Anthony dollar.  The Tooth Fairy will leave the tooth so Rachel can throw it on the roof.  Apparently, in China when a bottom tooth falls out, it is thrown on the roof so the permanent tooth will grow straight and tall.  When a top tooth falls out, it is buried so the incoming tooth will grow straight down.  I read this in a children's book.  I have no idea whether it is true or not, but it sounds fun.  We'll throw the tooth on the roof tomorrow.

One gone...more to fall out soon I'm sure.  Her other bottom tooth is loose and will be the next to fall out.

Ready for bed with her special tooth fairy pillow.

Fun at Mt. Hood

After our wonderful reunion, we stayed an extra day and enjoyed playing at the  Mt. Hood Skibowl Adventure Park.  The girls enjoyed the kiddie car rides.  I loved looking at the view of Mt. Hood while we played.

Erin Joy liked the bungee trampoline, but never got brave enough to do a flip.

Rachel tried to do a flip, but never made it completely over.

We enjoyed several other attractions, but I didn't take any pictures.  I think I took so many pictures at the reunion that I just didn't feel like taking another picture.  I couldn't take any pictures on the alpine slide because I had to ride with the girls and I couldn't ride and take pictures.  It went really fast and I screamed right along with my girls.  It sure was a lot of fun! 

 I did take a few pictures during our miniature golf game.  I'm not sure what sport the girls thought they were playing.

Pool?

Croquet? 

Baseball?

Another baseball swing...and she wondered why her ball seemed to always bounce off the course.

Yangchun Reunion

We just returned from an amazing trip to Welches, (near Mt. Hood and Portland) Oregon where we had a Yangchun Family Reunion. Over 200 people attended including the SWI (orphanage) director from Yangchun. Rachel is one of almost 800 children adopted internationally from Yangchun, Guangdong, China since 1995. We have a reunion every four years organized by some amazing adoptive mothers. I am so excited that the 2012 reunion will be held in Yangchun!!!

The SWI director, Ms. Yu, is an amazing woman. Watching her hug the children and genuinely enjoy their company was heartwarming. Sandra King is also an amazing woman. She is an adoptive parent with a daughter from Yangchun. She is originally from New Zealand, but has been living in China for 16 years (I think...) and has several houses for children who might not survive in an orphanage. She started "The House of Grace" near the Yangchun SWI and takes care of several children. She was able to attend the reunion and it was wonderful to meet her.

I can't even begin to express the emotion I felt seeing all the families and all the children from Yangchun. I was especially excited that 5 families from my travel group were able to be there. It was so fun to reconnect with them. It was almost as good as being in the White Swan Hotel when I traveled to China to adopt.

All the activities were fabulous. The girls enjoyed martial arts, Chinese art, dragon dancing, fan dancing, various craft projects, and other such activities.

Rachel's favorite things were playing with her friends, swimming in the hotel pool, and jumping on the hotel bed (sheesh....what kind of mother would allow their child to do that....)

Erin Joy's favorite things including going around and around the revolving doors in the lobby and hugging all the men. She attached herself to one of the fathers in our travel group. She was fascinated by his facial hair. She spent a lot of time sitting on his lap.

My favorite thing was talking with other adoptive parents. Everybody there was so friendly, open, and kind. What a great group of people! I especially enjoyed taking a little hike with our travel group during a break in the activities. I feel that these people are truly my family.

Here we are in China almost 6 years ago...look at our tiny babies!

Look how big those babies are now! Ms. Yu, the SWI director, is on the right. The man on the left is Mr. Chen. He was sent by the Chinese government to keep Ms. Yu in line.

Here are five Yangchun girls adopted on December 2, 2002. Three of the families were unable to attend the reunion this year. They were missed and I hope they can join us in 2012.

All of these girls were adopted from Yangchun in 2002...see if you can find Rachel.

See if you can find Rachel in this picture!!!