February's China Play Date

Sarah had a BLAST yesterday at our little play date with China girls and their mommies. We went to the Discovery Museum...OH MY GOODNESS!!! It couldn't have been more fun for Sarah. We'd love to get a membership there, if possible! There was so much to do and it was all so stimulating! She took a REALLY good nap yesterday afternoon! We met a new friend yesterday and her Mom, too!

Sarah went straight to the water activity...didn't pass go, didn't collect her $200...straight to that water!

Have you ever seen anyone this excited about a ping pong ball and some water??

Here is our friend, Lia relaxing in the chair.

Sarah and Lia going for a ride in the boat and evidently having a very intent conversation!

Sarah in the grocery store...will that be paper or plastic?
Giddy up, Horsey!

Lia driving Sarah around in the farmer's truck!

Lia going for a ride!


Emilie's turn at the cash register!

Sarah at the play house, raiding the "frigelator" (in Sarah-nese)
Complete with red couch! Who needs the White Swan?



This was so cool! That tube next to Sarah was so cool, when Sarah opened it, and put a ball into it, the air blew her hair all over the place and it sucked up the ball and sent it over her head and dropped it into a bin! SHE LOVED IT!!!

A day full of fun!!

A Note to My Daughter

Occasionally...once every couple of years or so...something moves my heart. In this case it was an embrace last night at a church meeting. Sarah was being so good...coloring with me in the corner and once in a while checking in with Troy, whispering her requests and comments in our ears. I was really proud of her...she's such a good girl. I couldn't get out of my mind, the look she had on her face while giving her Baba loves...I had to write it down and this is how it came out.


The Embrace
by Robin Archer


Timidly, you approach him
The big, burly, most gruff of men…
Eyes wide open and inquisitive
Gazing up to his adoring blue eyes

You take his large rough hands
Into yours; small, soft and sweet
And climb into his lap
Taking your place in his arms

You turn your glance toward me
Smiling: your heart full of love,
Happiness, joy and contentment.
As if he were created just for you.

So petite and sweet, you melt his heart
With your smile and adoring eyes.
You lay your head on his shoulder…
That spot you’ve claimed as your own.
In his heart and in his life.

I watch: my eyes welling up with tears.
My Love and my girl…
The love they share:
So big, no words could describe.

Just looking into your face…
Those glowing, sparkling eyes
And smile so big it melts
The hardest of hearts.

I can see the love you have
For your Baba and it blesses my heart
To see it in your eyes:
For the Man in our lives.

A love deeper than oceans and
Higher than the heavens.
How I wish this moment could last forever.
But, in a moment, you’re off
To color Pooh a pretty shade of purple.


2/6/2008

WELCOME HOME MIRANDA JOY!!

Last night, we welcomed Miranda Joy home from China with her Mama and Baba (Angie & Kyle)! It was awesome to FINALLY meet Miranda Joy and see her cute smiles and loving personality for ourselves. Jared, Corey, and Chelsea were VERY excited too see Mom and Dad for the first time in 2 weeks and meet their little sister for the first time. It was such a blessing to be a part of. There were definitely tears of joy in my eyes!! I took about 100 photos, but here are some of the highlights for me and Sarah.

My friend, Paige, painted this beautiful banner for us. Isn't she talented?

Chelsea was waiting anxiously for her family to come home!

Jared listening to some tunes while we waited for the plane to land...
There's Corey, waving his arms frantically when he saw Mom and Dad and Miranda Joy coming down the hall!

FINALLY!! They're here!

Angie and Miranda Joy immediately surrounded by Chelsea, Jared, and Corey (behind), and of course, Sarah didn't want to be left out.


Sarah's checking out Miranda Joy and Miranda Joy's checking out that balloon!

WOO HOO! Our newest US Citizen proudly waves her flag!!

We were blessed to see lots of these smiles from Miranda Joy all night long...her name is definitely appropriate, she's FULL of joy!

Chelsea was going to give Miranda Joy a hug and she decided a hug wasn't good enough...she climbed right up onto Chelsea and wrapped her legs around her...talk about cute!

Sarah and Miranda Joy making friends at the little get together that Angie's neighbor, Mindi hosted.

Checking each other out...

Sarah getting loves from her Angie!

Who Doesn't LOVE a Twirl Skirt?

After church last Sunday, Sarah couldn't help but dance around in her twirl skirt. It was so cute, I had to grab the camera.

Alright, now that I have boogie oogie oogie-d I can go in the house where it's warm.

Just sitting and playing with Braden...but you just can't see him.

A Girl and Her Dog...

Of course a few weeks ago after church, when I asked Sarah to pose for a photo, she just HAD to include her dog, Waldo, one of her favored companions.

REALLY cheesing it up for the camera!

A Cute Girl in a Cute Dress...

...Need I say more?

MEEEOOWWW!

My Lao Lao sent me this cute jacket! I LOVE it because it's so soft and especially because it gives me kitty cat ears. I went all over the house that day acting like a kitty cat and meowing. Mama laughed at me and kept calling me her little kitty. It was a lot of fun! I really like this jacket!!

January's Play Date

A few weeks ago, we went to the Pottery Barn to play a little, then to lunch at the Spaghetti Factory. We had a nice time and the girls had lots of fun!

Here is Sarah with Emilie and Sunny. Sunny just HAD to wear her princess dress.

Sarah's favorite thing at Pottery Barn was the rocking horse. It was all I could do to get her off the thing!

Street Sledding with Baba!

These were taken on Jan. 10th the morning after we had a lovely snowstorm! Troy got the sled out and was pulling Sarah down the small incline on our street. She had a blast!

Baba is getting a running start!

...and pulling her back UP the hill...
..and back down AGAIN!!

WEEEE! That was fun! I want to do it again!!

Congratulations Angie & Kyle!!

Congratulations to my friends, Angie & Kyle! In China, currently, I'm sure they're sleeping...but earlier in the day before they went to bed, they met MIRANDA JOY for the first time! She's so cute and has a smile that could light up any room! Check out their blog and wish them well! What a blessing it has been for me to participate in their journey. I've been so blessed by their friendship and I'm so glad that God brought us together! The newest photos of Miranda Joy with her Mama and Baba are here:

Angie & Kyle's blog

OMGOSH! YOU CUT YOUR HAIR! ARGH!!

Yeah...I know, most kids do this at least once.

I mean, I remember being much older and trying to cut my hair at my Grandma's house. And, I did learn one thing about myself through this process...I'm pretty humble when it comes to myself...but I'm much too proud and concerned about my daughter and her appearance. A lesson well learned as I've had to learn to love the "new" haircut just as much as the cute piggy tails she used to sport. Underneath it all, she's still my Noodle and I still adore her.

But, when I walked into the room where she'd been watching a movie during one of my "hurry and get these quilts completed by Christmas" sessions, I must admit...I FREAKED! And of course, it HAD to be 5 days before Christmas! I couldn't believe how high she'd climbed and how resourceful she'd been to get my very sharp and pointy gingher embroidery scissors. But most of all, I couldn't believe the HUGE pile of hair she'd been collecting in front of her on the bed.

My Mom kept it in perspective when she mentioned how many times those sharp scissors approached her eyes and face to no avail, she wasn't hurt.

Well, we're here for our first ever salon haircut. Not quite the reason for which I had hoped...

In mid-haircut...or I mean an attempt to fix the damage my ever so helpful 3 year old thought she'd trim her bangs and be a good helper to Mama cut.

Notice the over 60 year old comb over technique that Nikki is attempting to cover the damage?

The "Bad Boy"

Well...when Sarah was potty training Troy would put her on the potty when she had to poop and tell her encouragingly, "Come on Sarah....push that bad boy out."

Needless to say, Sarah started calling her poop, the bad boy. I appreciated that so much when Sarah and I were in a public restroom and it was my turn to go and Sarah would ask, (as loudly as possible)

"Mama? Are you pushing out the bad boy?"

I would try to "shush" her and tell her not to say that at the store...even if I just had to pee, the strangers in the next stall had no idea and my face was still red as a beet when I exited the stall to wash our hands.

I tried to stop reacting and she finally stopped saying it in public and honestly I hadn't heard her mentioning it much any more.

Then...last weekend, Sarah was sitting on BaBa's lap and he was talking to Bailey about our pet ball python, Kaa. He was explaining to Bailey that he has a heterozygous gene in his DNA for albinism and if he was bred with a female with the same gene...we had a chance to get an albino baby ball python. They are so beautiful--white with orangey/yellow patterns on their skin.

Bailey asked, "what would you do with one if you had one?"

Troy told her that they sell for $5,000 as babies and "I would sell that bad boy sooo fast!"

Bailey asked, "what would you do if you two of them?"

Troy retorted, "I'd sell both of those bad boys and have $10,000!"

I was watching Sarah because she had squinched up her nose....then in her 3+ year old logic, she says, "EWWWW, Baba! You don't want to buy poopies!"

The laughter was non-stop for at least 10 minutes following.

Spaghetti at Angie's

Angie was watching Sarah for me back in October for a while during one of my quilting classes and she took this shot while Sarah was eating spaghetti.

Hmmm...Do you think she likes spaghetti?