Good Golly Miss Molly! Oh Boy Baby Brother!

This One Little Picture…

2011-12-18T06:54:00.001-05:00

was responsible for my complete downfall.

To understand why, you need to understand some history. So here goes:

When we applied to adopt Molly in 2005, the wait for referral was six months. Six months. It had been pretty steady for a while. Turn in your dossier and six months later, referral.

Our dossier for Molly’s adoption was logged in with China on September 29, 2005. We were expecting to receive a referral in March or April of 2006. But something went wrong.

The exact month our dossier was logged in, China began it’s referral slow down. Except at the time, we didn’t know it was part of a major shift in China adoption. At the time it looked like a little glitch and things would soon turn around.

But it didn’t. It got worse.

With every new month came more bad news, and the wait continued to grow. Every new month, I allowed myself to be filled with hope and then suffered the disappointment. I wanted to be a mother so badly. My soul was so invested in the adoption process. My heart ached each and every day for the daughter who seemed to be getting farther and farther away.

The wait changed me. It made me not trust. It made me not believe. It made me scared and hurt and hopeless. I cried almost daily. At least that’s the way it seemed. Everyday for the next sixteen months I sat and hurt for my daughter and for myself. I thought about her constantly. Longed to hold her. Ached to be her mother. It was awful.

Finally in January 2007, we received Molly’s referral and joy was allowed to creep back in. The joy surrounding Molly was instantaneous. I loved her madly. But the joy in the rest of my life was slow to return. It took a long time to trust again, to believe again, to allow me to invest my heart again.

When we decided to adopt a second child, I went into the process with my whole heart. That’s the person that I am.

I remember the day we got our referral. Tony was out of town on business. I had to email him all of the pictures and information about our son. We talked on the phone for hours about all of the details in his file. But details didn’t matter. I was so head over heels in love with this little boy from the first time I saw this picture:

For the next several nights I went to sleep with my laptop right next to the bed. Every time that I would wake up I would wiggle the mouse and that beautiful little face would appear on the screen.

I carried his pictures around with me and kissed his little face millions of times. I shared the joyous news with my family friends. I couldn’t wait for the day that he joined our family. We prayed for Baby Brother and talked about what life would be like when Baby Brother arrived.

But as much as I loved my new child, I had to find a way to detach myself from the process of waiting. That awful time between knowing you have a child and the time when he is placed in your arms can be very, very hard. And sometimes dark. And I knew that I couldn’t go there again.

I worked at trying to disengage from the pain of waiting. I focused on the joy of my boy’s soul and not the moments, days, weeks, and months that he wasn’t with me.

With Molly, I counted everyday, every step in the process. I obsessed over every bit of news and pinned my hopes on every prediction.

This time I forced myself to think about the future with our son, not the present when we were without him. I didn’t count days, or steps in the process. I didn’t post about my paper chase or reaching every little milestone. I didn’t stay up at night obsessing if my I-800 had reached the lockbox or if getting my fingerprints done early would speed the process.

I just kept looking forward to the day that my son would be placed in my arms.

I hope that I did not appear uncaring because I did not post about the process. I care very deeply. He is my child and has been since the day I opened his picture and saw his beautiful eyes. I love him as I love Molly. He is my child and I would lay down my life to save his.

But in order survive, I had to draw lines. I had to push the painful piece, the process of adoption, away. I couldn’t focus on it because it was just a daily reminder that he was so far away.

My looking forward strategy worked for a long while. But then China sent this:And it was responsible for my complete downfall.

I received other pictures of my son from time to time, but they didn’t have the same effect as this one.

This one came between Letter of Acceptance and Travel Approval, and for some reason as soon as I laid eyes on it, I began to cry. Oh, how I ached to hold my boy. How I longed to kiss face, smell him, touch his skin, feel his weight.

Ever since I received this picture, I have experienced every single feeling that I had to keep in check in order to survive the wait.

Now all I can think (okay, obsess) about it going to China and getting my son. Getting Sam.

In 8 days I will do just that. The time is so near.

Please pray for Sam. Although my journey to him is going to be a joyful one, his journey to me will be more difficult. He is leaving a foster family that he has been living with and loving with for two years. He is losing the way of life to which he has grown accustomed. He is losing his country.

He might be experiencing all of these changes for a very good reason, but he doesn’t know that yet. To him these are huge loses with no clear picture of what is to come. He will need every prayer and the hand of God to guide him on his journey.

I hope that you will join me on my journey to get Sam in China. Blogger is blocked in China so I will be setting up a website that I can post to during the trip. In the next few days I will post the web address here, but I have to get the website set up first!

And just because he is so darn cute, here’s my son Sam one more time!

Molly Parties ‘Til the Cows Come Home

2011-12-07T20:29:00.001-05:00

And apparently cows don’t come home until really, really late.

Last Saturday, Molly attended not one, but two Holiday Parties. She was beyond excited and said, “Mom, this is the best day ever! Two parties in the same day. Can you believe it, Mom? I can’t believe it. Two Parties! Wow!”

Yeah, I’d say she was excited.

Party Number One was hosted by our Family With Children From China Group. We love our group so much that we just can’t break ties with them even though they are now two hours away.

Molly is not usually too hip on 4 hour round-trip car rides, but for this party she eagerly made the exception. I didn’t hear one “Are we there yet?” going either direction.

The party was nonstop fun for Molly. She disappeared as soon as we entered the door. There were old friends to see like….

Mia!

and Avery!

There was also a very special guest: Grace Lin, author of Chinese themed children's books, of which we already own several.That didn’t stop me from buying a few more and having them autographed. How cool!

The girls played, played, played in their fancy dresses and then took a break to consume a plate full of doughnut holes.This picture cracks me up because all three girls have a doughnut hole in their cheek. They’re trying to smile like nothing is out of the ordinary.

After getting a proper sugar buzz on, there were crafts.

And more time with friends. Oh how I love these girlies!

But the highlight of the party was the arrival of Santa.

My friends and I were creative. Okay, we were sneaky. And cunning. We ~~snuck~~ casually walked from the back of the room to the front of the room and positioned ourselves near the stage. Then, while nobody was watching or paying attention, we started the line for Santa.

Oh yes we did.

No long lines and cranky kids for us!

So anyway, Molly was the second kid to talk to Santa. He was fresh, patient, and listened to every.single.thing. that was on Molly’s list.

And apparently her list was long, because she was talking to him for a long time.

Finally she was done, the two of them looked up so I could snap the Santa Picture. And I didn’t even have to go to the mall this year. Score!

Soon after Molly’s chat with Santa, it was time to get back in the car and head home because it was time for party number 2!

Party #2 was a special party hosted by my friend Susanne, Max’s mom.

The party started out with the reading of a Christmas story by the mother of another guest. She’s a former school teacher and a great storyteller. She had the kids entranced.Soon after the story, a very special guest arrived……

St. Nicholas!!!!St Nicholas came in and sat down with the kids. Then he talked to each child individually. He told each one of them what he/she did this year that made him proud. Each child had their very own list of personalized compliments from St. Nick.

He was proud of Molly for handling all of the changes in her life this year with such grace. New house, new school, new friends, baby brother on the way. He was also proud that she was learning to read, write, add and subtract. After recognizing each child, he called them up and each received chocolates, a very special gift,and a hug.

Then St. Nick left the way he came.It was an amazing experience. The kids were mesmerized. I don’t remember any parties like this when I was young!

After St. Nick’s departure, the kids opened their gifts.

Molly got a puzzle. How did St. Nicholas know that Molly LOVES puzzles?

Next was a yummy dinner for the kids: Chicken nuggets, tater tots and watermelon. Doesn’t get any better than that, if you’re 5.The kids finished up and retired to the family room to watch Rudolph, while to grownups ate dinner. It suffices to say that our dinner was a bit more extravagant and delicious than nuggets and tots.

Just sayin’.

It was actually so yummy that I was too busy eating to take pictures.

When the evening ended Molly had been partying for 12 straight hours.

And told me again that this was the best day ever!

December 1 = 1st Day of the Advent Calendar!

2011-12-04T22:15:00.001-05:00

And Molly had been waiting not so patiently for the day to arrive. Here she is poking her head through the upstairs railing confirming the date before she is even out of her PJ’s.(Note to self: babyproof the upstairs railing before baby actual arrives…yikes!)

This year Molly actually has two advent calendars. The first one is the Advent Village which is around the base of the tree in the picture. We’ve had this one for several years and it definitely one of Molly’s favorite Christmas traditions.

Each day Molly opens a numbered door on a village house to reveal her surprise. It is my job to come up with clever little gifts for each day. For 24 days. That’s a whole lot of being clever. Just sayin’.

The new calendar for this year was given to Molly by her friend Max (pictured above). Max’s mom is from Germany, and she got a traditional German Advent Calendar for Molly. This one has a festive holiday scene. Little doors open each day to reveal a piece of chocolate.

See, here’s Molly with her first little chocolate. This makes her so happy. Seriously.

Max’s mom also gave us a bag of traditional German gingerbread men. Did I mention that their little gingerbread backs are covered in dark chocolate. Yummy! These also make Molly happy!

And finally there is the village. Here Molly is opening door #1

I have to leave notes on days that my clever surprise is too big to fit inside the little village door. The fun part for me this year is that Molly can actually read the notes all by herself. Oh yes she can!

Day #1 yielded this table top tree with lights for Molly’s room. She was thrilled!

Day #2 a tree skirt for the little tree. Molly was actually more thrilled than she looks in this picture.

Day #3: An ornament for the table top tree. Are you picking up on the theme here? Yes, clever little me came up with the Christmas tree theme for the Advent Calendar. You know, the tree, the tree skirt, a star, and a new decoration each day. I have it all planned out. My clever tree decorating advent adventure will last us the entire 24 days. Woo Hoo! Did I mention how clever I was?

Day #4 Another ornament. Look how happy she is!Molly genuinely thanked me with a kiss and a hug and then dropped this little bombshell on my Christmas Parade. She said, “Thanks for the decorations, Mom, but I made a bunch of my own and don’t need anymore. My tree is full. I hope you’re not going to keep giving me more.”

So much for being clever.

What the heck am I supposed to do with the other 19 tiny table top tree ornaments that I bought?

A Star Is Born

2011-11-26T09:51:00.001-05:00

Last week Molly was the Star Student of her Kindergarten class. Oh my, was she excited!

She came home with her blank poster and couldn’t wait to get it filled out. She told me about all of the special things that she would get to do with her new role. And each day she would get off of the bus just about ready to burst. She couldn’t wait to tell me all about her day as “the star.”

Here’s the close up of her poster:I loved that she wanted to put a photo of Baby Brother in her family picture.

I was thrilled that she got her special week to shine at school, but I hope she realizes that she is, and always will be my little star!

Because two pictures are just not enough to make up a blog post, here are a few more random shots from the week.

Molly always returns from school ravenous. I feed her as soon as she walks into the door or we have the whole Jeckel/Hyde transformation thing going on. Here’s my goofy girl eating yogurt pretzels. Leave it to Molly to turn food into a fashion accessory.

Molly started Daisy Scouts. Here she is modeling her Daisy Tunic. I can’t believe they start so young. They even earn badges and sell cookies (read: have parents ~~hound~~ ask friends and family to buy cookies).

Molly’s new favorite pastime. We spend all that money on toys and games and this is what she choses to do instead. She can spend an hour climbing up the door frame, dropping down, climbing back up, dropping down. Seriously, an hour. And she wants to to watch each and every attempt. Oh well, at least it keeps me from having to play Candyland (the world’s most mind-numbing game) with her!

Climb on sister!

A Super Sleuth Birthday Party

2011-11-16T20:54:00.000-05:00

Avery, Molly’s dear, sweet little friend, turned seven. Wow, seven!

Avery’s party is always a reality check for me. She’s a little over a year older than Molly. Attending Avery’s party each year is always a little smack in the face for me. A smack that I need.

You see, it happens the same way each year. I go. I say, “Yikes, she is old.” And slowly over the next year I accept that Molly will turn that age, too.

I’m glad that Avery is Molly’s friend for a number of reasons, but having her gently ease me into the inevitable reality that my daughter will grow up is definitely a benefit.

This year, Avery had a party at the science museum. The kids got to be super sleuths for the day. The adventure started out with a little lesson on fingerprints. Then all the kids had their own fingerprints taken.

Later in the party they were asked to hold drinking glasses. This left greasy little fingerprints all over the glasses. The kids got to use their own fingerprint dusting kits to lift the fingerprints off of the glass. How cool is that?

That wasn't even the highlight of the party. No, the highlight was making the ice cream.

Avery poured all of the ingredients into a bowl and stirred.

Then liquid nitrogen was added and, voila, instant--and I do meant instant—ice cream!

The kids all thought this was exceptionally cool. No pun intended!

Molly loves her some ice cream!

Of course there was the traditional Happy Birthday song.

And good friends to hang out with while waiting for the sugar to arrive.

But seriously, it was all about the ice cream.

And maybe the cake. But definitely the ice cream.

The party ended with gifts. Here’s Avery opening the present from Molly.Luckily Molly’s was the first or second gift opened. Shortly after that, Avery was surrounded by kids, all needing to get a closer look. It’s a kids party tradition.

Happy Birthday Avery. Have a great year being seven.

And thanks for helping me face reality.

Kelsey’s Birthday

2011-11-12T21:32:00.001-05:00

The thing about kids is that they grow up. And every year the have a party. And who doesn’t like a party?

Not Molly, she loves them!

Molly’s classmate and friend Kelsey had her 6th birthday party at a local entertainment center. I liken it to Chuck E Cheese, but it’s not near as obnoxious. And the pizza is better. Better stuff to do, too.

Like black light miniature golf.Molly’s never played miniature golf before and it showed. She held her club so that the head faced backward. I kept trying to correct her but she seemed to like her unique putting style. She was having a blast, so who am I to judge.

The theme for the miniature golf course was dinosaurs, which was right up Molly’s alley. She knew the names of all of the dinos scattered around.

Group shot of the party girls! Kelsey the birthday girl is top row, far left, eyes closed…sorry Kelsey!

After golf it was time for pizza.

And then time to bowl. Another activity that Molly has never done. I guess we need to get out more!

Molly faired better at bowling than at golf. Look at that ball…right down the center of the lane.I think she got a spare in that frame. Love the miniature bowling balls. So much easier for the kids to use.

Back to the party room to sing Happy Birthday to Kelsey.

Finally Molly’s favorite part: cake and ice cream.

One would think that this would complete the party. Not even close. Each kid was given a credit card that they could use for games and rides.

Molly and Kelsey riding the Motorcycle race course.

Molly racing her sports car. Judging from her performance, the BMV won’t be issuing her a driver’s license any time soon.Molly thought the party was “awesome!”

That’s her new word: Awesome. Makes me smile every time she says it. She thinks she is so grown up.

Ya know what? She is. Not much longer until my baby will be celebrating her 6th birthday. I am so not ready for her to be another year older!

Happy 6th Birthday Kelsey! Thanks for including us in your celebration.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back On The Blog…

2011-11-08T20:27:00.000-05:00

I know what you were thinking when we moved. Be honest. You were thinking, “Thank God! Finally no more posts about the %*#@! zoo!”

Well guess what?

The new town has a zoo! And we went! And I am posting about it!

Don’t worry. We don’t have a membership (yet) so you won’t see zoo posts popping up with the same regularity as before. But for today, you’ll have to suffer through.

At least the scenery will be different. That’s something, right?

Onward, to the zoo pics…

My friend Suzanne and her son Max invited us to a day at the zoo. Molly and Max had a few days off of school and the weather was beautiful, so how could we resist?

A chilly start to the day.

Off to the reptile house. I thought, “Wow, that’s a neat sculpture. The crocodiles look pretty realistic.”

And then one of the crocodiles moved. Umm, not a sculpture. Real crocodiles and my kid was leaning over the railing just a few feet from their ferocious jaws.I guess it was safe. I mean there were no signs warning of danger or to keep your hands away from the meat-eaters. But still, a little close for comfort if you ask me.

Molly poses with her favorite zoo animal: The Gorillas.

Woo Hoo! Molly was so excited to see that this zoo had a carousel, just like the one back home.

Max and Molly pose for a picture.

And another. These two fall into a pose with each other so easily that it reminds me of a married couple. Which I am not at all ready for. At all. At least not in this century.

A visitor to our lunch table.

The sun was right behind Molly's head so not a great picture, but this peacock strutted right up to her and demanded some lunch.

Another Molly and Max pic on the train.I hope you are not puckering those lips, Max.

Max on the playground.

Molly in the tortoise shell.

Max’s turn.

And one last picture to end the day. Uh, Max. Please take you hand off of my daughter’s thigh. Thank you.

Reader’s beware…I just might be purchasing a zoo pass in the not-to-distant future. And you thought you were done with zoo posts.

Bwaa ha ha ha!

Happy Camper

2011-11-05T16:57:00.000-04:00

“Mommy, today was the best day ever!”

That’s what Molly told me on the car ride home. We spent the day back in the old town, with the old friends. There was a certain comfort that being back in the “old” provided for Molly. And me.

The morning began with Miss Lily’s Mandarin class. Molly started with Miss Lily when she was only a year old. Although she doesn’t always love Mandarin class, she always loves Miss Lily.

After class we went to lunch with Molly’s best friend Mia. Now that we have moved and Molly has started Kindergarten, she has tons of friends. I mean tons. She has friends that she plays with daily at home. Friends that she sees everyday at school. Friends that are at her extracurricular activities.

But ask Molly who her best friend is and she will reply without hesitation: Mia.

Molly was thrilled to go to lunch with Mia. These two always order the same meal. When they are together these two slowpoke eaters inhale their food just so they have more time to play with each other.

After lunch, we went to the China Friends playgroup. Molly has known many of these girls since she was two. The group has recently expanded and we have more formal monthly outings now, but Molly still looks forward to each and every meeting.

For todays outing, Annie’s mom Jill planned an exciting day for the kids. She had teachers from a local Mandarin school (not the one connected with our Families with Children from China where Molly goes) come over teach the kids all sorts of traditional Chinese activities.

Here are the girls learning about the Chinese Zodiac.

Next up was chopstick lessons.

Molly is already proficient with chopsticks so she enjoyed showing off her skills.

After chopstick lessons, the girls learned the hand signs used when counting from 1 to 10 in Chinese—different than we use here in the USA.

Then they learned a hand play using Chinese counting.

Finally they learned how to play a Chinese version of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

This proved to be great fun and they were still playing this game at the conclusion of the activities.

At the very end of the day, the girls took part in a candy tasting. The kitchen was filled with different stations where the kids could taste a whole variety of traditional Chinese candy and then vote on their favorite. How fun is that?

Sorry, not pictures…I was too busy tasting candy myself! And for the record, the sesame candy was my favorite. Molly like the lychee gummies.

The drive home was a quiet one. I had a tired little camper in the back seat. A tired little camper with a big smile on her face. One that though that this was the best day ever!

The Great Big Halloween Post

2011-11-01T16:43:00.000-04:00

Warning: Unlike the politically correct and very boring school party, this post contains non-PC material that may be considered graphic to some. Be advised that there will be costumes, candy and general tom-foolery normally associated with Halloween.

The Halloween celebration started up on Sunday, with the annual carving of the pumpkins.

Here’s Molly pretending that she enjoys this little Halloween ritual.

And here she is showing how she really feels about carving pumpkins. Can you tell it is not really one of her favorite things to do?

Here’s Molly pretending to draw a face on the pumpkin.

And here what really happened…We downloaded pictures off of the net and Tony took over from there. He’s the real genius behind the carving.

He even uses a Dremel, because that’s how real men carve pumpkins….with power tools.

Molly was content to wash her hands of the whole mess.

Molly and I both agree that Dad did a great job on this year’s jack-o-lanterns!

Moving on to Monday, Halloween, the day that Molly has been waiting for all month!

This year’s costume choice came as a bit of a surprise. Did she request a princess costume? A bride? A fairy?

Surprisingly, Molly chose something very un-girl-like. *insert audible gasp here*

Molly getting into her under layer. Any ideas of what she might be?

A Pteranodon!

Here’s Molly in her perfectly clean, untouched costume that she wasn’t allowed to wear to school. Pretty obvious why our politically correct public school system bans costumes in the classroom, isn’t it.

It only takes one look to see it’s full of satanic overtones,witchcraft and blood. I can certainly understand why the local elementary schools wouldn’t want there hallways filled with ~~cuteness~~ evil like this. (Yes, I am still bitter about the Pumpkin Day celebration.)

But, I digress, once again.

Molly made the most adorable little flying pterosaur that ever took to the prehistoric skies.

Speaking of cuteness, my little girlies that live behind us came trick-or-treating at the back door. Can I just say LOVE.THESE.GIRLS!

Molly was anxious to get Trick-or-Treating herself, but she knows me well enough to understand that nothing is allowed to start until the photographing is complete.

Picture with Mommy.

Picture with Daddy.

And the family photo.Now let’s get this party started!

This is the first year that I haven’t gone Trick-or-Treating with Molly *sniff sniff*.

My mother-in-law usually comes down to pass out candy while Tony and I take Molly around. Unfortunately for everyone, she couldn’t make it this year. She was stuck at home with a broken ankle! Hope you are on the mend, Mom! We missed you!

Molly had plans to Trick-or-Treat with Max. Max’s dad was taking him out. I decided to let Tony take Molly so that he and Max’s dad could do some male bonding.

I sat at home, all alone, missing my baby.

Well, not actually alone.

I got a comfy lawn chair and pulled it up to my neighbor’s fire pit and ~~enjoyed their company~~ suffered in sadness as I handed out candy.

I gave Tony instructions to take pictures of Molly while she was Trick-or-Treating. As soon as they got home I downloaded the pictures to see what they did.

This is what I got a lot of:Yes. Pictures of Molly’s back. And Max’s back.

Apparently men don’t know enough to stop periodically, pose the children in believable scenarios and take pictures of their FRONTS!

Here’s a nice blurry one. Tony explained to me that at this point Molly and Max met up with Allison and the real fun began. The three amigos ran from house to house and there was no way to get any clear pictures of them.

Okay, maybe I am being a bit harsh. Here are a couple of good ones.

I guess you could say that the night was a huge success. The kids had a blast, Tony made a new friend, I kept nice and toasty warm by the fire pit, and the pumpkins looked really cool all lit up on the front porch!

Oh, and then there was the candy. Can’t forget about the candy!What more could you ask for?

Except maybe a real Halloween party at school.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Pumpkin Day? Whatever!

2011-10-29T17:32:00.001-04:00

How many times have you said “Happy Pumpkin Day!” to someone? Probably never, right? That’s because the holiday is not Pumpkin Day, it’s HALLOWEEN!

At least that’s what it is to 99.5% of Americans. But because it might offend the 0.5% of the population that doesn’t like Halloween, the schools are now having Pumpkin Day.

Leave it to our public schools to suck the fun out of yet another holiday. No costumes, no games, no party…at least not in the traditional sense.

Yesterday Molly’s class celebrated Pumpkin Day. This is what the party consisted of:

First, the kids sat on the carpet and got instructions for their Pumpkin Day tasks. Note the lack of costumes. Next year they will probably ban Halloween tee shirts and anything orange and black.

Next, the kids broke up into groups to work on their Pumpkin Fact Book. Just look at the joy and excitement on Molly’s face. “Oh boy, instead of playing games,eating candy and having a Halloween costume parade, I get to weigh and measure a pumpkin!”

The highlight of the pumpkin exploration was carving the pumpkin.

Even this couldn’t be too joyful because they couldn’t just scoop out pumpkin slime and carve……

Nope. Instead the kids had to count out pumpkin seeds into group of ten to represent 100. Yipee!

My friend Suzanne (Max’s mom) was in charge of planning the party. Bless her soul. She has so many fun things planned until she talked with the school and got the official script which explained exactly how the party would be run. Step by step. No deviation.

There really wasn’t anything for her to plan. She basically had to coordinate volunteers to implement to official school version of Pumpkin Day. I commend her for doing a great job with the task she was given.

Here are the kids in our group with their carved jack-o-lantern.

Molly’s good buddy Allison and her Mom.

At the end of Pumpkin Day, each kid got some cheese and a cupcake. It was the only thing that we did all day that even remotely resembled a party, in my opinion.

Please don’t misunderstand. Everything that the kids did during Pumpkin Day was worthwhile. It was a very good learning experience which made kids think, explore and investigate. I have no problem with that.

But make no mistake. It.Was.Not.A.Party. And it should never replace one of the things that makes a kid’s childhood memorable. I say bring back the costumes! Bring back the games! Bring back the Halloween Parade! Bring back the joy of being a kid!

Stay tuned for the Great Big Halloween post where Molly WILL be wearing a costume, she WILL eating more sugar than she is usually allowed, she WILL be giddy with excitement, and she WILL be celebrating the holiday as it was meant to be celebrated.

Max and Molly

2011-10-28T15:56:00.000-04:00

Max and Molly get together to play a lot. Max only lives about a half a block away, so it’s pretty easy to arrange. But it’s more than just convenient. They love playing together.

In many ways Molly would rather hang with the boys. Don’t get me wrong, she is still my girly-girl. Has to be in a dress. Has to have the hair fixed just so. Hair pretties and shoes must coordinate with the outfit.

But she loves to play like a boy. Loves to chase. Loves to race. Loves to tumble. Loves to climb.

It’s always interesting to see her in a mixed group of kids. Most of the time she will still align herself with the girls, but I see her looking longingly at the boys, jealous of them chasing and yelling while the girls are acting more refined.

But I digress, once again….

So anyway, Max’s mom and I provide lots of opportunities for them to play with each other. Which also gives us lots of opportunities to be with another adult having conversations about, well, our kids.

A couple of days ago Max came over to play and they asked me to take pictures. Who am I to refuse!

Max and Molly playing with play dough.

Molly wanted her picture taken with some of her creations…

So of course, Max wanted one with his!

Play dough lasted a little while but soon, the kids were running around the house chasing and screaming. We decided that it was time to head outside.

They screamed and chased each other for a while, then decided to build a nest out of pine needles. Yes, those stupid pine needles that need to be raked. Again. Lame evergreens, that don’t stay green.

How cute are they sitting in their nest?

Of course Molly wanted a picture alone in the nest.

Which prompted Max to ask for a picture alone in the nest.

Eventually, it was time for Max to go. Of course the kids realized if they begged for more pictures it would lengthen their time together so that's what they did. And they made themselves look so darn cute that their evil plan worked. At least for a while.

Finally, Max did return home. Both kids moped, said their sad goodbyes….and then saw each other 20 minutes later at the bus stop!

Silly kids.

Happy Birthday Allison

2011-10-27T15:19:00.000-04:00

When Molly got off of the bus on the very first day of school she told me that she had made two new friends on the ride home. One was named Max and one was named Allison.

I figured that she would make “friends” with a lot of different kids before any of them really stuck. Well, you know what? Max, Allison and Molly have become The Three Amigos. They love each other!

When Allison turned six, her mom asked who she would like to invite to her party (this was a family party with aunts, uncles, cousins, etc). Her answer: Max and Molly. That was it. Out of everyone in her class, she only wanted Max and Molly.

We were honored to attend the sixth birthday party of this little cutie.

The girls.

The boys.

Molly, Max and Allison…best buddies!

Opening presents.

And eating cake.

Playing in the backyard.

Hope you have a great year being six, Allison!

Thanks for including us in your party!

Down on the Farm

2011-10-27T13:50:00.000-04:00

Going to the pumpkin farm this year made me just a wee bit melancholy.

You see, we have gone to the same pumpkin patch since Molly was a year old. We rode the same hay ride, petted the same goats, stuck our heads through the same scarecrow cut-outs, ate the same kettle corn, and took a picture by the How Tall This Fall sign.

It’s the How Tall This Fall sign that really got to me. No picture by the How Tall This Fall sign to add to the collection this year. The end of an era—okay it was a very short era—but it’s still the end.

I had to settle for a picture by the fireplace instead. Just not the same. Boo Hoo.

Determined not to wallow in pity, we selected a new farm to visit and headed out with anticipation and enthusiasm. Most of the enthusiasm was displayed by Molly. She’s like that, you know. Makes me wish I was five again.

So we arrive at the farm and step up to an admission booth. Admission booth? Our old farm was FREE. This farm cost $9. Each. Regardless of age. Do the math—that’s $27 just to get in the gate!

Once inside, the farm had some of the same things our old farm had. There were cut-out pictures that we could put our heads through…

…and some fun little things to play on like this barrel swing.

They had this big bouncy bubble thing that was pretty fun. For a five year old.Not so much for a forty-seven year old. But Molly didn’t mind jumping by herself for a bit while I looked for some Dramamine.

Molly got to ride the cow train.

And pose for some more pictures in cut outs.

We found our way through the corn maze. We picked the kid version instead of the adult one. The kid’s maze had alphabet letters to help you get out.Good thing because with my sense of direction, it would have taken us week to find our way out of the bigger one.

We took the hay ride….

….that got us to the pumpkin patch.For 27 bucks one would think that you would get a free pumpkin or something, right? Nope. Pony up another 8 bucks for a pumpkin.

Still more to do! Molly played at the playground…

And visited the animals.

One final stop at the water pumps. You pump water and make your rubber ducky swim to the end of the trough. Now that’s worth the price of admission right there. (note the sarcasm).

They say the best things in life are free. I’d say they are exactly right, at least when it comes to pumpkin patches. Our old pumpkin patch didn’t cost a penny (well except for the modestly priced pumpkins) and was way more fun. It was more farm and less amusement park. And it had a How Tall This Fall sign.

Oh well, live and learn. Next year we’ll try a different place.

The important thing, I guess, is that Molly did have fun at the new pumpkin farm. And we did come home with a $35 pumpkin. Just saying!

The Family Visits Our New Home

2011-10-26T21:53:00.001-04:00

My family drove half way across the country to visit us in our new home. They spent a week with us. Before my Dad walked out the door on the last day he said, “I can’t wait to get home and read the blog post about my visit!”

Talk about pressure.

Well I didn’t get the post up by the time you got home, Dad. I was too busy ~~cleaning the mess you all left~~ trying to get back into our normal routine to crank out a post that fast.

But hey, it’s been less than a week since you left, so that’s not too bad. So here it is, Dad. The Great Big Family Visit post:

Since the day we moved into our new home, my parents have been itching to visit. Did they miss their daughter so much that they couldn’t stand it? Were they interested to see their beloved daughter’s new domicile? Were they just dying to visit the Midwest?

Nope.

They came for one reason, and one reason only:Molly.

Oh sure, they tried to make it seem like they had other motives, but the truth is they came to see Molly. It was totally transparent. Did they shower me, their baby daughter, with love? Did they oooh and ahhh over the house? Did they marvel at the splendor of autumn in the Midwest?

No.

But they did shower Molly with love. They did oooh and aaah over every single thing she did. They did marvel at the splendor of my daughter.

Yeah, yeah. They paid lip service to the former, but it was the latter that they were really here for. See:

Molly was around my parents nonstop and they loved every.single.minute.

I know my parents love me and were glad to see me and my house, but I also know where I rate in the pecking order. And it ain’t numero uno. Not any more.

I can live with that because the person who now tops their list also tops mine!

Basically my daughter ditched me for the week so she could hang with grandma and grandpa, and grandma and grandpa ditched me for Molly. You might think this was a lose-lose for me.

Wrong-o!

Because my parents weren’t the only ones who made this trip. My sister came to visit me too! I love my sister so very much. And she doesn’t ditch me for the cute little pig-tailed princess.So while my parents were loving on Molly, Michelle and I were going shopping and hanging out and doing other sisterly things. All without the munchkin. Kind of a win-win, if you ask me!

Don’t get me wrong, Molly was able to woo my sister away for a quick game of Candyland while I cooked dinner. Her powers are strong. But I always got my sister back.

Ryan was such a trooper. Not much for him to do here. No kids his age. Not a lot of great sights to interest him, but he never complained. He played with Molly, kept himself occupied on the computer and went to see a few local attractions.

I came to realize on this visit that my little baby nephew is not such a baby anymore. In fact, he just turned 14. It doesn’t seem possible! He wasn’t even a year old at my wedding, and now he’s all grown up. *sniff sniff*

We gave Ryan an impromptu birthday celebration while he was visiting. There were presents…

and a cake with 14 candles.

Unfortunately he had to suffer through the pink napkins and silverware and butterfly birthday plates. It’s all I had on hand. Not to macho, I know, but he didn’t seem to mind. I mean who is gonna complain about cake and presents, right?

At least he was surrounded by his family.

Before I knew it the week was over and the family was packing the car to go back home. Grandma and Grandpa got a last little bit of sugar from their number one.

And the whole family gathered for one last photo op. Except for Tony. Because he took the picture.

Mom, Dad, Michelle and Ryan made it home safe and sound and everything is getting back to normal around here. Well almost. Molly informed me today that she loves Grandma and Grandpa more than me.

I get no respect, I tell ya!

Hope you had fun while you were here family! Miss you! Come back soon. Well not too soon. I need time to win back my daughter’s heart.

What the Heck?

2011-10-12T18:00:00.000-04:00

Our last house was surrounded by trees. Great big deciduous trees. Trees that dropped all of their leaves every autumn. And all of those leaves needed to be raked and bagged. By me. And Tony. But mostly me.

Imagine my joy when we purchased a home that had coniferous trees. No leaves to rake or bag. I was giddy just thinking about all of the time that I would have this fall now that we owned a home with evergreens!

I just love that word. Evergreen. Break it down: Ever Green. As in NEVER orange or yellow or red or brown. And never shedding leaves that needed raking. Or Bagging.

Or so I thought.

Much to my horror, Autumn arrived and my beautiful conifers started dropping needles. Lots and lots of needles. Acidic needles that will kill the grass if they are not.…RAKED and BAGGED!

What the heck is up with that? Don’t they understand the concept of EVER GREEN?

I was almost ready to put our new house back on the market, but then I found this:Children who actually thought it was fun to rake and bag. Children who were thrilled at the prospect of doing this oh-so-tedious chore. Heck three out of four of them weren’t even my kids but they willingly raked their ever-lovin’ hearts out and then thanked me for the opportunity!

All they asked for in return was to be able to do this:

And this:Small price to pay to have someone else do the raking. And bagging. Next year maybe I can even talk them into carrying the bags to the curb. Hmmmm.

Yep, life is good at our new home.

Make New Friends But Keep the Old

2011-10-10T15:33:00.000-04:00

Remember that old song from Girl Scouts? Well, since we moved to a new town, we’ve been living it. Our neighbors behind us have seven kids and our next door neighbors have a little boy Molly’s age.

But that’s not all. Now that Molly has started Kindergarten we have met lots of kids in the neighborhood, all within walking distance. It’s a dream come true for our little socialite.

Molly hasn’t always been this social. Sure, she’s always had friends but there was an obvious change in her that happened around five. Friends became extremely important.

She would rather be playing with friends than anything else in the world. It even nudges out princesses. *gasp*

Of course, if her friends want to play princess, she’s not one to argue!

Here’s Molly and her best buddy Max. Max and Molly are in the same Kindergarten class and just love each other. She hasn’t talked him into playing princess…yet!

Molly, Max and Riley. Molly met Riley on the school bus. Who knew that the Kindergarten bus was a place to conduct social networking!

Of course, we can’t forget our old friends. We make the drive up to see them pretty regularly, too.

Here’s Alex, Molly and Abby eating giant slices of pizza on one of our recent trips. Frightening thing is, all three girls finished their slices…and are still as skinny as ever. I just looked at the pizza and my butt grew two sizes. So unfair!

Molly recently “made friends” with a new park in town and has proclaimed it her favorite! There’s a rope tower…

and this wacky thing that you stand on and lean…

…which causes you to spin around in nauseating circles. Only fun if you are a kid. Trust me, I tried it. Definitely not fun!

Molly was a little scared of this slide,and I can’t blame her. Umm, what happened to the sides?

But with a little help from Daddy, she soon had it mastered and is scared no more.

Playing bongos.

Swinging on monkey bars.

And sliding down poles.This park has it all.

I am sure we will be back to visit this new friend very often.

“Hey, Mom! I Wanna Do a Projick!”

2011-10-09T18:04:00.001-04:00

Molly loves a good craft projick (project) and is constantly trying to rope me into doing one ~~for~~ with her. Hey, I’m as crafty as the next gal and I really don’t mind but somehow it seems that even if Molly can do the project by herself, I end up doing the lion’s share of the work with the set up, material prep, instructions and clean up.

And Molly hardly ever picks a project that she can do independently, although there are plenty in the craft cabinet. No, she wants the seriously detailed, difficult projects.

In addition, she always wants to do them at the most inopportune times. Like when I am cooking dinner, or paying the bills.

Oh, I understand what she is doing. She sees me not paying attention to her for 4.5 seconds and remedies the situation by roping me into something that puts 100% of the focus back on her. I’m onto her little plan, but somehow she sucks me in every single time.

Here is one of Molly’s favorite projicks….Perler Beads:These were lovingly given to Molly on her birthday by her sweet friend Avery and her ~~evil~~ equally sweet mother Christine. Just look at them. A five-year-old with teeny tiny beads. I can’t imagine how anything could go wrong with this.

So what you do is take these teeny tiny beads and put them on teeny-tiny pegs to form a design. You do this with teeny tiny tweezers.

You also have to follow a complicated pattern to make the design come out correctly. Well, you don’t actually have to follow a pattern but the ones on the box look so cool that you would be a loser parent if you could not help your five-year-old replicate the design.

Molly has enough patience to place about 20 beads onto the pegboard pattern.

And then she is content to rummage through the beads looking for the correct colors….

while you-know-who finishes the projick.

After about 10 minutes of bead hunting, even this becomes boring and Molly begins to lose interest.So, she wanders around the house playing with other toys and occasionally checks in with me to make sure that I am still working.

Finally I am finished placing all of the teeny tiny bead on the teeny tiny pegs and I call Molly over to inspect my work.

She jumps for joy….which causes about 20 or so teeny tiny beads to fall off of their respective pegs. So I reapply.

Then I must use the iron to melt the beads so that they all stick together in one big beady design. Another step that Molly cannot do. You know, the whole hot iron thing.

While I’m busy ironing beads Molly grabs my camera and begins to take pictures of herself. Wonder where she learned that???

After the design is ironed/melted it must be placed in the freezer (next to the pumpkin muffins we made during a different projick), so that it can cool down quickly because five-year-olds don’t like to wait for anything.

Soon enough the project is done.

And Molly horses around with it.

Molly poses with all of the Perler Bead projects that I she has done this far.

And I go clean up the mess. I know, I know. SHE should be the one cleaning it up, but the teeny tiny beads need to be transferred from the bowl we had them in while we were doing the project back into a Ziploc bag for storage. Would you trust your five-year-old to do that?

I didn’t think so.

Can You Tell Your Kid Is Stressed Just By Looking At Them?

2011-10-07T16:54:00.000-04:00

I can. With Molly it’s easy. It’s all in the lips. She tenses the muscles around her mouth, making her lips into a weird little pucker. Even when she smiles her lips are tense.

Here’s an example….

Earlier this week we went to the park. This is typically a pleasurable experience for Molly and she squeals with glee when she sees the playground equipment from the window of the van.

But on this particular day she had the stress-mouth thing. I have no idea why. There was nothing different about the park, or the day, or the kids. At least I don’t think there was, but every.single.picture. I took made it striking clear that there was something going on. I asked her 10 different ways what was bothering her, but got nothing. Maybe she didn’t really know.

I felt so bad for Molly. Visiting the park is one of her all time favorite activities but she clearly wasn’t having fun. And to top it off her maniac mom was going around taking pictures of all that stress.See of you can tell in these pictures.

Like I said before it’s all in the lips.

Even when she was giggling, the lips were still tense. Can you see it, or is it just one of things that only a mother can tell?

After we returned home, I heated up a bowl of homemade chicken soup, one of Molly’s favorites….(Excuse the make-shift bib—Molly is a sloppy soup slurped!)

And all was right with the world again!

Let’s Go Shopping!

2011-09-28T15:54:00.001-04:00

This was the most pathetic shopping event of Molly’s life. I wanted to buy her more. Lots more. Believe me I did. I love to shop for Molly. Molly loves to shop for Molly. But we still ended up with a pathetic haul when we got home.

The only person who was happy about all of this was dad, because he see clothes as dollar signs, whereas Molly and I see them as wonderful little chances to get excited every single day of the season.

The stores were full of cute little outfits but our shopping spree only netted 5 dresses, 2 pairs of leggings, 2 shirts, a hoodie and a sweater. That’s it. For the entire fall/winter season.

“Why?” you ask. It’s tragic, really. Kind of a perfect storm scenario. Lots of Molly’s clothes from last year still fit. Lots.

Lots of Molly’s summer dresses can be transformed to winter dresses simply by pairing them with shirts and leggings. Lots.

And finally lots of money was spent on the house, and the move, and the adoption. Lots, and lots and lots.

Spending money on necessities is fine but spending ~~recklessly~~ on indulgences is not really in the budget.

So here are the sad, few, meager purchases that we made this year.

Dresses: Must have the spinabilitiy factor to even be considered.

Molly wanted to get in on the photo session so plopped herself right into this picture. No worries, there will be more of her to come later in the post.

Utilitarian pieces for layering.

The next two dresses have a spin factor of 10!

This fleece hoodie was too cute for words. It was the last one left so I had to buy it 2 sizes too big. You’ll probably see it a lot over the next few years.

Thank God for small favors. Even though her body didn’t grow much, Molly’s feet did. At least we could go just a little crazy on shoes. If you call four pair crazy.

If you can’t see detail, the pair of shoes next to the boots are sequin covered tennis shoes. Very sparkly.

Molly finally outgrew her Size 3 coats so new heavy and light weight coats made the cut. If we would have moved to Florida--like I wanted--we could have skipped these. Just sayin’.

This is Molly’s absolute favorite dress. She wore it to school the day we bought it (although she did wear different shoes). Molly judges every dress by how much it pulls out. You know, like a princess. Dresses that pull out a lot have maximum spin factor, as she will now demonstrate.

The wind up.

Half way through the rotation…

Full spin on the skirt. Now that’s what Molly is talkin’ about right there.

Acting like a ballerina.

Thanks for hanging in there for yet another post about clothes. I keep this blog as a scrapbook for Molly. If I take pictures of the clothes and post them, it makes them easier to give up when she outgrows them. Otherwise I ‘d have boxes and boxes of clothes that I would have difficulty parting with.

Why is it that everything your kid wears, or draws, or colors, or writes, or whatever, becomes a memory that you want to hold onto forever?

Oh, by the way, I did pick up a little something for myself…

The bus stop momma rain slicker available at Amaz0n for $12.95. Stylish, yet practical, don’t you think? Okay, maybe it’s not stylish, but it’s a necessity when you have to wait at the bus stop on rainy days!

Mom! Take My Picture!

2011-09-16T17:09:00.001-04:00

To say that we have been busy over the past few months would be an understatement. With the move (which is still kicking my butt), the start of Kindergarten, updating our home study for baby brother’s adoption and the million other things that must get done in life, I have been a bit neglectful when it comes to taking pictures.

Molly has noticed and I think that it bothers her that there might be a millisecond of her life that doesn’t get recorded by a camera. Her new mantra is, “Mom! Take my picture!”

Molly’s idea of a photo-op and mine are a bit different. I typically capture her doing things. Events. You know, Molly at the Zoo, Molly at Playgroup, Molly at a Birthday Party, Molly Going to School.

Molly is more interested in pictures of nothing. Well, not nothing but not anything in particular. For example….

Molly discovered if she twirled around in this dress while sitting down it forms a circle around her body. To a five-year-old that is something that simply must be photographed.(And then be repeated about 500 times, showing anyone who will look in her direction.)

Or when you figure out how to take the sheer window curtain that Mom took down and turn it into the world’s longest wedding veil, you definitely need a picture of that, right?

Cuddling up in Mom and Dad’s comforter while Mom is making the bed is certainly something you want to remember for the rest of your life…

And then there’s the ever popular “Take a picture of my picture, Mom!” I have taken pictures of artwork before…mostly stuff that was going to be given to someone. Somehow Molly has got the notion that I need to take a picture of every. single. thing. she. draws. Seriously.

Here’s Snow White with 5 of the 7 Dwarfs.

The take my picture thing is not limited to still photography. Oh, no. The other day I gave her a piece of bubble wrap from a packing box. My thought was that she would pop it and that would be that.

Nope. She grabs a spoon and a butter knife from the silverware drawer and tells me to get the camcorder ready. Here is the result:

Now that’s entertainment right there, folks. Couldn't have made it through childhood without capturing Molly’s “Laughing Music.”

So there you have it. A taste of what Molly thinks is picture-worthy. And I guess she is right. The small little moments are just as important to remember as the bigger ones. Leave it to a kid to teach you something important.

We now return to your regularly scheduled update….

Last week Mandarin Class started up again. Since the Families With Children From China group here in our new city doesn’t offer this, I decided that it would be advantageous for us to drive 2 hours (each way!) to attend Mandarin in our old city.

That’s four hours in the car for a one hour class. Four hours of “Are we there yet?” and “Are we home yet?” for one hour of Mandarin instruction. What was I thinking?

What I was thinking is that Molly would have to opportunity to see her China friends twice a month. And get Mandarin instruction to boot. I may regret this after making 18 round trips this year, but the next few pictures made the first trip worth every single minute we spent in the car.

After class we asked the girls where they wanted to go for lunch. They held hands, jumped up and down and screamed in unison: “NOODLES!”

Getting ready to shop at the warehouse store before returning home.The girls loved being together and we loved seeing them loving being together. Did you get that?

Back at home Molly and I found a new park. Molly is a park-aholic and we have be struggling to find a decent park close to our new house. It took some work, but we finally found a winner. We visited our new park every single day this week.

Told ya, my gal is a park-aholic…and I am her best enabler!

Back Dated Blog Posts

2011-09-03T09:47:00.000-04:00

I back dated several blogs from events that fell during my blogging hiatus (during the big move). I didn’t want to let these events go unmentioned so I wrote them and slipped them back in the order in which they occurred.

Now it’s kinda like I was superwoman and had time to blog and make a major move at the same time. When I really wasn’t. But it looks like I was, and that’s what counts.

Click on the links below to catch up on all the stuff I neglected to post.

My Little Fashionista

The Same Old Yankee Doodle Molly

House Hunting

Sprinkler Fun

It's a Playgroup Luau

Also, don’t forget to scroll down to read Molly’s Back-to-School blogs that were posted earlier this week!

First Day of Kindergarten

2011-08-30T20:06:00.000-04:00

There. I wrote it. Kindergarten. My baby went to Kindergarten today. Kindergarten, Kindergarten, Kindergarten. Look at me go!Just yesterday, I couldn’t make my fingers strike the keys and today I’m typing Kindergarten like a pro.

What a difference 24 hours has made for me and for Molly!

WARNING: Most of today’s pictures look just like yesterday’s pictures except Molly is wearing a different dress. But it’s my kid and my blog so I say: Redundancy be darned!

The day started out just like yesterday. Molly posed for pictures in her new dress….

…and showed off her new backpack….

and then the showed the dress and backpack combination.

Later, we moved outside for a leaving the house picture (with the dress and backpack).

On the way to school, I got the first sign that things were going to be fine. Molly asked me why it was taking sooooo long to get to school. The school is five minutes away.

Hmmm, maybe she’s excited???

Then she asked why she couldn’t ride the bus to school like the other kids. I explained that she is my baby and she only has one First Day of Elementary School in her entire life. I did not plan on missing it. She could ride the bus home. She could ride it to school every. single. day. this year, but today, I was driving her.

Once we were out of the car she was off and running. Well, walking. Quickly. Ahead of her mother who wanted to be there to witness the one and only First Day of Elementary School.

She agreed to pose for a picture outside the front door. I was relieved to see her in a much more relaxed mood.

I actually got a spontaneous smile at the front doors of the school. This might go very well. There is only one thing that could derail things now. But surly that won’t happen, will it? We stepped inside the building. And that’s where we came face-to-face with my greatest fear: a crier. Poor little thing. She was so upset at the prospect of leaving her Mommy.

I felt bad, really I did, but I didn’t need Molly seeing this little cherub crying or the waterworks might start for her.

I had to divert.

“Molly, let’s go in the library. They have a stuffed Clifford! We can take a picture!”

And more diverting….”Ooooh, Molly, Look at all of the cool stuffed animals from your favorite stories. Llama Llama Red Pajama! If You Give a Mouse A Cookie! Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type!”

Once I didn’t hear anymore crying, we ventured out into the hallway. Crisis averted.

The school staff was in the foyer of the school, greeting the kids and walking them to their classrooms. I am sure it was to reduce the amount of separation anxiety. Good Idea, I thought, but I will miss out on photo-ops. Darn.

Molly was grouped with a little boy from her class. When the staff member came to get them Molly gave me a kiss and hug and a “Goodbye Mom!” and she was good to go.

Except that’s precisely the time that the little boy standing with Molly started to cry. No, bawl. Wail. Scream for his Mom. Ugh! Two criers. This might be more that Molly could stand.

I looked at Molly and told her that he looked sad, and that she should walk with him so that he wasn’t so scared.

And you know what? It worked!

Off she went, down the hall with the crier. Despite the look on her face in this picture, she was very excited. She even turned back and gave me an excited wave a couple of times. My big girl!

There she goes. Not even a tear shed. Except by me. As expected.

When school was over, I met Molly at the bus stop. She was over the moon about her first bus ride!

She gave me a little curtsy before disembarking, then I got a big hug and the jabbering began. I got a play-by-play of the entire day.

At home, Molly enjoyed cookies and milk and a special little surprise.

The Sound of Music! Molly is into wedding dresses, veils and brides. The Sound of Music has a great wedding scene

After snack, Molly showed off her schoolwork.

And now, I’ll show off her schoolwork!

We ended the day with a trip to Molly’s favorite restaurant for a little Chinese food.

She wanted on last picture by the fish pond before we left the restaurant because, “It looks Chinese, and I’m Chinese, Mom.”

And that was that. The first day of Kindergarten was in the can. Done. Finis.

My little baby is growing up. First, she old enough to go to kindergarten and then she gets all mature on me and has a seamless transition into the school year.

Next thing you know she’ll be getting braces or driving a car or some other crazy grown-up-girl thing.

I am so very proud of you Miss Molly!

Would Somebody Please Explain How We Got From Point A to Point B So Quickly?

2011-08-29T16:55:00.000-04:00

Remember this day? The day that my chubby-cheeked little girl was placed in my arms for the very first time. Look at her….she’s a BABY.How did we go from this ….to this…so darn quickly?

I’m serious. She was a baby yesterday. Really, she was. I know, I’m her mother.

And now she is all grown up.

And we are doing things like this…Shopping for school supplies!

And you know where all that kind of madness leads, don’t you? That’s right. School!

I can’t take it. Really, I can’t.

Today was Molly’s K Orientation. See, I can’t even right the word out yet. I just have to put K. It’s like if I write it down, this whole thing is actually going to happen. Which it isn’t. Because I am going to wake up in a few minutes and get Molly out of her crib and feed her a bottle.

This whole school thing is going to just be a bad dream.

Just wait and see.

Well, okay, maybe it’s not a dream and maybe Molly is going to K, but I don’t have to like it. I hope Molly does though, because if she doesn’t, life is not going to be very much fun for any of us for a while.

Today’s orientation gave me a reason to pause. I’m not sure how the whole idea of school is sitting with Molly.

The day started out just fine. Molly modeled her new backpack…

and her new outfit, and was just a happy as a lark. If larks are indeed happy. I’m not quite sure.

Once we made it to school, the smile became bit more tight-lipped.

And by the time we got to the front door, Molly wouldn’t even smile.

Once we arrived at the orientation, she wanted to sit on my lap. She asked if she could suck her fingers. I told her that K-ers (still can’t write it) sit in their own seats and have to wait until they get home before they can suck their fingers.

Then my heart broke just a little.

But Molly dutifully minded me and then the principal when she was asked to sit up in group for a story. She looked stressed though.

After the meeting with the principal, we were dismissed to the computer lab to work on a craft. Molly wouldn’t look at the camera and had the clenched jaw that told me she was nervous. But she completed the craft as she was instructed. My little trooper.

Here’s another Mollyism: When she is stressed, she picks at her lower lip with her pinky finger. Seriously. She’s done it since she was a baby.

She agreed to smile for this picture, but momma knows this is the pursed-lip smile that indicates trouble’s-a-brewin’.

Next was bus safety class. Molly has loved buses forever. We hunt for busses on the road. We keep tallies of how many busses we see on each car ride. We check to see if the each bus has a boy driver or girl driver. And then we keep a tally of that stat, as well.

This should have been a time of joy for my gal, but she wouldn’t even look at the camera.

She practiced walking to the safe spot….

…with this lovely look of excitement plastered on her face.

Back on the bus, I get another clenched-jaw smile.

After bus safety, we went to Molly’s classroom to meet her teacher. Hard to believe, but I forgot to take a picture there. Molly had to do an assessment in the classroom and I was relegated to the hallway to fill out paperwork. I missed the photo op.

Tomorrow is the first real day of the K-word, and I have to say that I am not quite sure how it will go. Molly was visibly nervous, but she didn’t crack.

When we got home, she drew this picture for her teacher: Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. She even taped a dinosaur to the corner if the picture. The teacher must have made a pretty good impression to warrant such special treatment.

Day one of the K-word could go either way. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Good or bad, I can guarantee that there will be tears tomorrow.

Mine.

End of Summer Pool Party

2011-08-28T15:08:00.000-04:00

I can’t believe that summer is over. Just a few more days until school starts and then it’s gone. Done. Finished.

Sniff, sniff.

I LOVE summer. Adore it. Live for it. Dream about it. And it is over.

Sigh.

The China Friends playgroup had one last sha-bang before we had to say good-bye to bathing suits and flip flops.

This won’t be a long post because I am in mourning, ya know, about the whole end of summer thing.

Here are the pool party pics:

Molly in her element. She’s a fish, without a doubt.

Trying to climb on the big seal floatie. A challenge, but she mastered it before the party was over.

The whole gang in the drink.

Molly couldn’t drag herself out of the pool to eat dinner with the other kids. She stayed in and swam. Later in the evening, hunger finally overtook her and she came out and asked for food.

Do you think she is having a good time?

More fun!

Special Bonus Material…We recently attended a cookout for Tony’s work. Molly and I made brownies and you-know-who licked the bowl clean.

The Long Awaited and Much Anticipated Dinosaur Train Movie!

2011-08-22T14:52:00.000-04:00

Molly is a huge fan of Dinosaur Train on PBS. Probably because it is one of two shows that she is allowed to watch. Yes, I am that mom. The one who doesn’t let her kid watch TV. Since she turned 5, I have allowed a few shows to creep in and have tolerated a few DVDs, as well. But not a lot. Much to Molly’s chagrin. But I digress…

Molly is a huge fan of Dinosaur Train. They have been advertising their first ever Dinosaur Train Movie for the past month and Molly has been waiting not-so-patiently for the day to arrive. Today was the day!

The bonus for me was that the movie was on TV. Yes, on TV! That meant that I didn’t have to drive to a theater, pay $20 and listen to other people’s kids ~~misbehave~~ react enthusiastically for the duration of the movie. Score one for PBS. And it’s paid for by viewers like you. Thank You! (Okay, you have to watch PBS Kids to get that joke.)

An additional thrill for Molly was that she got to invite neighbors over to watch the movie with her. At our old house there were no kids that lived around us who were Molly’s age. Playdates were arranged, not a spontaneous thing.

But now all that has changed. At our new house we have a family that lives directly behind us and they have seven, yes seven, kids. Spontaneous play happens on a daily basis now. *Grin*

At the crack of 9:00AM the neighbor kids arrived and the movie viewing commenced. And I got to check my email. Because it wasn’t at the theater, ya know. Love that.

Here’s Molly preparing her interactive Dinosaur Train action figures for the big show.

And here she is smack dab in between her new buddies. Um, are they not the cutest things?

Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for (insert drumroll here) Dinosaur Big City!

Like most movies, it held the kids attention for about 20 minutes.

The Pteranodon Family barely got on the train for the big city before…. the kids proceeded to chase each other around the family room for the rest of the movie.

We waited, lived for, talked about, counted down the days for an entire month to watch the first 20 minutes of an hour long movie, and then lose interest. Sigh. That’s what being 5 years old is all about, I guess.

Side note: In addition to having 7 kids, the neighbors have a rockin’ swing set, which Molly adores. She loves it so much that she drew the neighbors this picture of it and gave it to them. Sometimes kids just melt your heart.Seriously, is my kid the next Renoir, don’t ya think?

The End…and The Beginning

2011-08-12T10:44:00.001-04:00

Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.~Semisonic

Wondering where we’ve been? Well it’s been closing time on one chapter of our lives. The end of some other beginning. We sold our house and moved. When I write it down it looks so neat and clean.

We sold our house and moved.

It was anything but neat and clean. Let me start by saying yes, I know the economy is terrible, and yes, I appreciate that our house was only on the market for 16 days before we accepted an offer.

That said, the sale of our house was quite possibly the most horrific experience of my life. It wasn’t “My mom made me eat brussels sprouts at dinner” horrible. It was more like “being water boarded while forced to listen to Kenny G” horrible.

It.was.that.bad.

Oh yes it was.

The problem stemmed from our wackadoodle of a buyer who made us jump through a million hoops, all the while threatening to walk away from the deal if we did not comply. You hear of being nickeled and dimed for things, but we were hundred-ed and thousand-ed. It seemed like we were hemorrhaging money and completing projects to make our house someone else’s dream home. I’m not talking fixing broken stuff (which we did), I am talking making major changes (which we also did).

And remember, all the while we lived with the threat of having our buyer walk away from the deal. Nice.

The final straw that broke this camel’s back is when I got a call while house hunting that the buyer moved the closing up by three weeks, leaving us with only two weeks to move out. Not bad on the surface, but WE HADN’T FOUND A HOUSE YET.

I had to find a house that we could close on and move into on a short time frame, then go home and pack up everything we own. Ugh. I am the person who looks at 5 or 10 houses and picks one, but at the point when I got this little bit of news, I had already looked at 45 houses with not one contender.

To say that I was a mess is a gross understatement. I was a nightmare. I was having panic attacks, yelling at my husband, yelling at my kid, not sleeping, crying and feeling like I was going to throw up all before I even got out of bed in the morning.

I prayed. A lot.

And just like God provided us with a buyer (albeit a wing nut of a buyer), He lead us to the perfect house in our new town. (Sidenote: as the buyers, we treated the owners with total respect and made the sale easy for everyone. We’re just like that.)

So on August 5th, we moved into our new home.

I love the new house. It’s big, it’s beautiful, it’s functional, it even has new stainless appliances. And hardwood floors. And a big finished basement. And it’s located on a cul-de-sac. And it’s on a big lot. And it’s in a top-rated school district. And there is a house right behind us with a family that has seven kids (!) for Molly to play with (she is so excited!). And, and, and….

The house has its warts as well. It’s a 20 year old house after all. We have a bunch of little projects to do. But I am embracing my new house’s warts and we will fix everything in time.

The new house feels comfortable. It feels inviting. It feels permanent. It feels like home.

And now the stress of the past several months is gone (the memories however, are permanently etched into my brain) and I am ready to start living again. And blogging again! Are you ready for some pictures?

Our dear friends and neighbors, the Beechams, stopped by on our last night with a delicious dessert to share. One of the hardest parts of leaving this house is knowing that these two wonderful people will no longer be right next door.*sniff sniff*

The last days in the house were full of a lot of, well, lasts. For instance, Molly’s last bath.

And her last night in bed. Molly was wanted to sleep in her own room, but when it was time for bed she reconsidered. Her room was all packed up and there were boxes everywhere. She decided to sleep with us instead.

And then we have the last morning to wake up in the old house.

On moving day there were not a lot of places for Molly to hang out and not be in the way of the movers. This was our solution: She ate breakfast while watching PBS Kids sitting on the kitchen island. She thought it was great!

I have been the No TV/Video Mom since Molly became our daughter. I have relaxed this rule a little since Molly turned five, but the past few weeks the rule has completely been thrown out the window! Molly is officially a TV junkie. We’ll have to work on reining that in soon.

Moving looks like a lot of fun!

So many new experiences….

And chances to be silly. Looks like Molly is really enjoying herself and is excited about the move. Ummm, wait for it. A change in mood is coming soon.

One final family picture in front of the old house. I must say that as much as I was looking forward to moving into the new house, leaving this one made me sad. I have never loved the house, but I loved all of the memories that happened inside of these walls.

And here is where the dam broke. We did a final walk through the house to say goodbye and Molly grieved the loss. Hard. Very hard. Over the next several days and nights she would randomly break out in heaving sobs saying, “I want to go home!”Leaving is hard for everyone, but especially for a kid who has had already had losses in her past. Significant losses. All I could do was hold her, love her, try to make her feel safe. It seemed to help when I told her it was hard for all of us, but that we were all going to get through it together, as a family. And I promised that it would be okay someday soon.

Before leaving town we met Molly best friend, Mia (and my best friend, Stacy) for lunch. Molly is showing Mia her new watch that she received from one of the neighbors before we left.

Molly was smiling, but I was crying. One of the hardest parts of moving is knowing that I am taking Molly away from her buddies, her sisters. All her Chinese friends that she grew up with since we came home from China. We are only moving two hour away, but golly gee, they are now two. hours. away!

We had a week between the closing of our old house and when we could move into the new house. We stayed in a hotel, which after the stress of the move, felt like a vacation. Here is Molly at the Marriott. She had an entire sleeper sofa but somehow ended up sleeping in the chair. Silly girl.

A new beginning….Molly opens the door to our new home for the very first time!

Here’s Molly in her new room which came adorned with ladybugs. A much different picture than when she was saying goodbye to her old room.

Eating lunch in a location that would keep her out of the way of the movers…again.

Molly playing in packing paper, which was in no shortage.

See what I mean?

Packing boxes were also not in short supply. They made awesome hiding places, playhouses, rocket ships, cars or whatever a five-year-old’s imagination could create.

Okay, we lasted a week before we had to make the trek back to our old stomping grounds to visit Mia (and Stacy). It filled Molly’s and my heart with joy to see our friends again.

Oh, you want to see what the new house looks like?Isn’t she purdy?

And here is a picture Molly took of my new favorite store. Any guesses as to what store this might be?

I’ve got a lot of blogging to make up. I plan to go back and post about everything else that happened during my bloggy hiatus. Look for backdated posts in the near (or maybe not so near???) future! And thanks for hanging with me during the extended break!

It’s a Playgroup Luau!

2011-07-17T08:44:00.000-04:00

Get all of your best friends together. Throw in some games and crafts. Add some fun food and drinks. Finish it off with a couple hours of pool time…That’s about as good as life gets, if you ask Molly!

This playgroup get together was one of Molly’s all time favorites. It truly encompassed all of Molly’s most loved activities and she thoroughly enjoyed every single minute.

I did too. I really should have been home preparing for the impending move. There is very little in my house that has even been packed and I have a to do list that is a mile long, but oooooh, it felt so good to just sit back and relax. I forgot all about the stress of the moment and just had fun again. The move has really sucked a lot of those moments away from us this summer.

Here are just a few of the highlights of the day.

My friend Kim and her older daughter Ashley lead the kids in a couple of games.

Molly and Mia whispering to each other when they are supposed to be listening to instructions. Is this foreshadowing what is to come in school this fall?

Craft time: Decorating flip flops.

Molly and Mia pose with their projects.

The girls enjoy some tropical luau drinks before hitting the pool.

Aaaah, Molly’s favorite summertime activity. The kid is part fish….or as she would say, “Part Mermaid. Ya know, like Ariel.” The princess thing NEVER ends.

Best buddies give each other a pool hug.

The whole gang in the drink.

Do you think these two have posed for a few pictures in their lives?

Molly going off the diving board. When did she grow up? Wasn’t she a baby just a few months ago? Sure seems like it!

The look of joy on her face says it all!Hope your summer is going along swimmingly!

Ho hum. Now back to reality. Anybody have any spare moving boxes?

Sprinkler Fun

2011-07-10T12:22:00.000-04:00

‘Nuff Said!

House Hunting

2011-07-06T20:40:00.000-04:00

I am the kind person who looks at 10 houses and picks one. Somehow on this house search, it didn’t go exactly as planned. I looked at a few more than ten. Thirty-eight more to be exact.

Yep, when I finally found the house, it was the 48th house I toured. Yikes! God Bless my realtor. It really was a chore. The good news is that I adore our new house. It’s perfect. Well, as perfect as you can get when you are buying an existing house.

I’m sure that I will post more about the house in the future but for now, here are some pictures from our days on the hunt for the perfect house.

This house got top numbers by Molly. Any guesses why?Yep, it was painted bright pink. She LOVED this house. Me? Not so much.

The house we finally decided upon also has a pink room. It was a win-win for the all of us.

Here’s my realtor faxing our offer to the seller’s realtor. We had a signed deal a few hours later. That was fast!

After having our contract accepted, Molly and I celebrated at a local ice cream place.Dad went to work. Poor Dad.

Molly loved this place because in addition to ice cream, they had kiddie rides. For $.50 you could bob up and down for about a minute. How that is considered fun is beyond me. Must be a 5-year-old thing.

Looks like she got a thing for The Cat in the Hat.

Clifford was another favorite.

Once we found a house, I called the school district inquiring about schools. We stopped by Molly’s new school and the principal just happened to be outside. In the middle of summer. When school was out of session. Imagine our luck.

She invited us inside and gave us the grand tour. She also captured Molly’s heart.

Molly is so excited to start school here. Let’s see how excited she is come September!

The school was built in the early 1900’s but has been completely renovated. Very cute and school-y looking inside and out.

We signed the contract on the new house without Tony even seeing it. The day after we signed, he finally got a tour of the place. Good thing he approved!

Molly enjoyed playing with the current owners’ toys.

I don’t feel comfortable posting pictures of someone else’s house, so I won’t give you the full tour until it becomes our house.

Here’s a sneak peek…we are standing in the foyer. Hope to see a lot of pictures from this location in the near future! Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly with the closing on our current house and our new house.

Who am I kidding. It won’t go smoothly. Let’s just hope we close!

I am sooooo ready to get off of this house selling/hunting crazy train!

The Same Old Yankee Doodle Molly

2011-07-04T05:21:00.000-04:00

For the past five years we have attended our local Independence Day Parade. Here in our small farm town, things don’t change much from year to year. Some years we sit on the other side of the street just to shake things up. We’re crazy like that. But all in all it’s the same ol’ parade. No matter which side of the street you chose to sit.

The only thing that made this year’s parade a little different was the feeling of knowing it was the last time we’d attend the parade in our fair town. Next year will be a new parade in a new town. I have to say, I got a little nostalgic. But then the same exact same parade that I have watched for five. straight. years. rolled through and I quickly got over it.

Talk about same…Molly’s 4th of July outfit from last year still fit so she is even wearing the same clothes as last year. And she’s sporting the same hairdo. With the same hair pretties!

Each parade starts with the waiting and looking.

With periodic moves into the street to see if the parade is coming yet.

There is always a bit of irritation and impatience.

But eventually the fun begins…..

….with the band that is too loud.

Molly always waves to the parade participants.

You routinely have some of these:

Along with a bunch of these:

Sprinkle in a few of these:

Hey wait…here’s something new! Molly’s friend Julianna was marching in the parade with her church group and sneaked over to say hi.

But then it was back to our regularly scheduled parade, which always ends with these bad boys. If you ask me, the farmers are just showing off.

Obligatory picture with Dad.

Obligatory picture with Mom.And that’s a wrap!

In the evening we attend fireworks. Since this is way past bedtime, Molly shows up bathed and in PJs.

And of course there is more waiting for things to start.

More obligatory pictures:

And then BOOM!

By the end of the evening, everyone is tuckered out, including Daddy.

Finally, the ~~same old~~ traditional bedtime story: Apple Pie 4th of July. And there you have it. Forth of July. Again. Just like last year. And the year before. And the year before that.

Happy Birthday America!

Happy Father’s Day

2011-06-19T13:18:00.001-04:00

Another Father’s Day, another stepping stone for the garden.

Several years ago we started a tradition of making Daddy a stepping stone for Father’s Day. I love this idea for a number or reasons.

Molly gets to participate in making Daddy’s gift.
Each year we select meaningful reminders of the year to place into the stone.
The stones add such a lovely personal touch to the garden, which we can enjoy year-round (except when they are covered in snow!).
We have a record of Molly’s hand print and can see how much she has grown each year.
I don’t have to think of a new, original, heart-felt gift each year!!!!

Here is Molly in the process of making this year’s stone:

Molly is really into dinosaurs. This is also one of Daddy’s passions, so it was a no-brainer to figure out what we were going to include in the stone.

Molly selected and carefully placed a plastic dinosaur at each corner of the stone. She picked an Ankylosaurus, Velociraptor, Hadrosaurus and Spinosaurus.

The reason for these particular dinosaurs was so meaningful: They were all duplicates in the set. She quickly figured out that she could give these up and still have the most variety left for herself. So thoughtful, my girl.

After the dinos were in place, Molly lined the edges with glass beads. This is the first year that she was concerned that the beads followed a set pattern of colors. Showing off her pre-math skills, my big girl is!

Final step: Handprint!

The stepping stone is done!

The completed project now needed to cure.

Molly was so excited to give the stone to her Dad, but heck, it was only Monday. She had to wait another 6 days to give it to him. That is a loooooong time for a little kid to have to wait. And keep it a secret. But she did.

Finally Father’s Day arrived and the gift could be revealed. As you can see, we showed great care in our wrapping.

A big smooch before the unveiling.

And then the moment finally arrived.

Molly and her Daddy showing off the stepping stone.

Placing it in the garden.

The full set of stepping stones.

A close up of this year’s project.

And here is a special little someone who will be celebrating Father’s Day with his very own Daddy next year!

One last person that I must include in this post: My Daddy!

And yes, even at 47 years old, I still call him Daddy.

To Molly his is simply Grandpa, and she loves him madly!

Happy Father’s Day to these two very special men.

We love you both so much!

Molly Was Just Like A Kid In A Candy Store

2011-06-18T19:23:00.001-04:00

Wait, she wasn’t LIKE a kid in a candy store, she WAS a kid in a candy store. For a birthday party!

How great of an idea is that? A kid’s birthday party in a candy store. Genius, I say! It ain’t gonna get any better than that. Seriously.

Molly’s friend Alex turned 6!

And all of Alex’s (and Molly’s!) friends were there to celebrate her special day.

Mia was there…

And so was Avery!

The kids participated in many activities like a candy scavenger hunt….

…and a gumball and spoon relay.

They painted pictures of a candy shop.

Each girls filled her very own pixie stix style candy straw…

…and decorated her very own cupcake with candy.

Then it was time to sing to the birthday girl.

Molly and Mia posed with their matching cupcakes.

Time to dig in! The candy store had ice cream so each guest got to pick their favorite flavor.

Of course Molly picked chocolate.Yum!

And no party would be complete with out the group picture! Are these kids cute, or what?Happy Birthday Alex! Your party was SWEET!

Safety Camp

2011-06-16T17:59:00.000-04:00

Each day this week at the crack of dawn (Okay, it was actually 9 AM, but that IS the crack of dawn for my gal), Molly attended Safety Camp. This was a program put on by our local Parks and Rec Department for the 4-6 year old crowd in order to teach them all about safety. Like you couldn’t figure that one out on your own.

Molly was thrilled that she got to attend. She started the countdown to Safety Camp at least a week before it started. Was she that excited to learn about how to be safe in her world? Was she so bored that anything would be better that staying home? Was she just plain eager to expand her mind and learn new things?

No, she was just ecstatic that she was going to attend Safety Camp with her best friend Mia.

Here she is on Day 1, waiting for Mia to arrive.

And here she is with Mia. Mia’s friend Alexa also joined in on the fun.

So everyday I would drop my baby off at 9 and return a few hours later to hear about all of the wonders of Safety Camp. I heard about the police department, the jail and the handcuffs. I heard about how to dial 9-1-1. I heard about the proper way to approach a dog. I even heard about how to sit properly in a car seat.

All of this learning really sparked the questions in Molly and every evening she would start in: “Mommy, what if I call 9-1-1 and no one answers? What if I forget our address? What if my car seat is broken and I can’t buckle the buckle right? Why do dogs bite people? Will Mia’s dog bite me? What if they put me in jail? What if they put you in jail? What if they put handcuffs on someone and can’t get them off? Why are sirens so loud? Have you ever been sprayed with pepper spray? Has Daddy ever been sprayed with pepper spray?”

This was a nightly event and Molly was relentless with the questions. It got so bad one night that I had to text Mia’s mom, Stacy, that “Molly keeps asking questions and won’t shut up!”

Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that she asks questions and is eager to learn, but geesh! I was interrogated each.and.every.night!

On the final day of Safety Camp, the kids met at the fire station.

They learned all about the fire department, went through the smoke house simulator, toured the ambulance (yes, I got the full barrage of questions about each of these) and then got one final surprise….The police came and fitted each child with a brand new bike helmet!

Checking the strap and making the necessary adjustments.

And a high-five at the end!

A few parting pictures with the new bike helmet…

Standing on the fire truck.

And riding in the ambulance.

Let’s hope that with all you learned in Safety Camp that this will be your ONLY ride in an ambulance, sweet baby girl!

Block Party

2011-06-15T17:50:00.000-04:00

The good thing about having a kid that is not yet a fluent reader is that they can be pretty clueless to the world around them. They are limited to what they can see, and are dependent on others to tell them what thing say. So situations can easily be manipulated to have the outcome that you, as the responsible adult, want them to have.

I took full advantage of this when the big, colorful signs went up around the neighborhood. They advertised that a local radio station was sponsoring a Block Party, and covering it live on the radio.

I knew that it would be right up Molly’s alley, but not so much mine. Inflatables, games, hot dogs, junk food, guys dressed up in funny suits, crowds. So when Molly asked what the signs said, I ~~lied~~ embellished and told her that they were simply advertising for a radio station. I mean it was partially true, right?

And all would have been perfectly fine had we just stayed at home tonight. But no, being the good mother that I am, I had to take Molly to the pool. I had completely forgot about the Block Party.

Wouldn’t you know it, we drove right past the park where the Block Party was going to be held. They were in the process of setting up and inflatables were already inflated. Grills were already grilling. Guy were already putting on funny suits.

Now I was stuck. I could make up an even bigger ~~lie~~ embellishment to cover my first one, or I could fess us and tell the truth. I picked the latter. I told Molly about the party and she was thrilled. So we went to the pool for an hour and then ran right home so that we could attend the party.

As expected, Molly had a great time. Me? Well I guess I enjoyed seeing Molly have a great time. So it wasn’t all bad.

Molly in the bouncy house!

Molly sliding down another inflatable attraction!

Molly posing with guys in funny suits!

And the best part of the night…junk food!

Molly’s dinner consisted of an ice cream sandwich, a bag of chips and french fries. I can hear the audible gasp from all of my friends and family. I am the mother that makes her kid eat well-balanced meals. I strictly limit junk food and never go to fast food restaurants. But tonight Molly got lucky, and she thought it was the best night of her life.

I guess it wasn’t that bad of a way to kick off our summer. Even if the guys in the suits did creep me out a little bit. Especially the hamster.

He Had Us At Ni Hao

2011-06-14T15:16:00.001-04:00

And now for the real reason why I didn’t blog in May…..

Introducing our son!

On May 5, 2011, while playing at the park with Molly, I got a phone call that changed our lives. Judy from our adoption agency called to tell us that she had a file of a little guy that she thought would be perfect for our family. She told me that his date of birth was January 5, 2010 and that he was currently in a foster home in Henan, China.

My first thought was, “Oh my! He’s so young…and we are so old!” but I was anxious to get home and review his file. I quickly scanned his medical information to get the basics and then opened his picture, which simply took my breath away. He was beautiful. He was perfect. He could be our son! Molly, who was sitting next to me,wholeheartedly agreed.

The next step was to call Tony and share the news with him. He was traveling for work, and I caught him right in the middle of a big project. Needless to say, he was as shocked as I was. I mean how can you prepare for this kind of call coming from out of the blue.

I forwarded all of the information to Tony via email. He finished up his work, and quickly returned to the hotel to look over the file. Together on the phone, we went through all of the paperwork and made the decision that this little guy, a half a world away, was indeed our son.

Of course we did our due diligence over the next few days, having his file reviewed by doctors and talking with a variety of specialists. We got all of the information needed to go into this adoption with our eyes wide open.

The positive feedback on the part of the professionals was reassuring, but you know what?

He had us at Ni Hao!

When we looked into his big, beautiful eyes, we knew without a doubt that he was our son. And we were madly in love with him!

On May 9, 2011 we submitted a Letter of Intent (LOI) to adopt our precious baby boy. On May 12, 2011 our LOI was through review/translation and was sent to China. And on May 20, 2011 we received Pre-Approval from China to adopt our son. Praise God!

We actually began the adoption process on February 11, 2011 when we submitted our application to Chinese Children Adoption International. We spent the next several months paper chasing and going through our home study to adopt another child.

We decided to wait until we received our referral before sharing the news with family and friends. Since then we have been overwhelmed by your love and support. Thank you! It means the world to us.

When we got the call from CCAI we had just completed our entire adoption dossier and had just submitted our application to USCIS (US Immigration) which will allow us to adopt a child from a foreign country. This is the last step in the process before our dossier is sent to China. We are still waiting for that USCIS approval. It should be another 3 or 4 weeks for that to happen.

Even after we receive USCIS approval, there are still many steps to go through before we can travel to China to meet our son. In fact we don’t anticipate traveling until some time between January and March of 2012. That’s an eternity when you know you have a child waiting halfway around the world! We would appreciate all of the prayers and positive thoughts that you can pass our way!

You may have noticed that we haven’t share our little guy’s name. It’s not a big secret. We plan on telling everyone. There is only one problem…we haven’t chosen a name yet. We have narrowed it down to a couple of names, but I just can’t decide which one I like best. I look at him, and either one fits. I am usually so decisive, but for some reason I am having commitment issues.

At this point, we call our boy Baby Brother. And for right now, that’s the name I like the best. It seems to include Molly in this whole process. And that just warms my heart. She is so proud to be a big sister. I have much more to say about that, but it will have to wait for another post.

For now, I will leave you with an updated picture of Baby Brother. It was taken on May 13, 2011 when he was 16 months old. (If you are any good at math you will have already figured out that he is currently 17 months old!)

We love you, Baby Brother!

Moving On Up…

2011-06-12T15:33:00.001-04:00

In my last blog post I said that I had some good excuses for neglecting my poor little blog. I just didn’t tell you what the excuses were. I did give a little picture clue, though:

Did you guess my lack-of-blogging excuse?

Yep, we’re moving!

Early in May, Tony was offered a new job. It’s an incredible opportunity for him, and in this economy we feel very fortunate that something of this caliber was pretty much dropped in our laps. He eagerly accepted the job, and gave his notice to his current employer. However, the new job is located in another city a couple of hours south of where we live. So we’re moving.

Let the packing begin! Ugh.

We have lived in our current home for 11 years. That’s long enough to accumulate quite a bit of, ummm, for lack of a better word…crap. Because of this I have spent the past month decrapifying our home. We have taken truck loads of crap to the dump, some stuff that is less crappy to the Goodwill and moved the best of the crap into storage.

That has left us with a nice, crap-free home to show the public. Seriously, 50% of our belonging are out of our house. And you know what? I don’t miss them one bit.

It is so nice to open cupboards and closets and not have things falling out of them. It is wonderful to be able to walk through the house and not have to maneuver around extra furniture. So I say nothing is coming back when we move into our new home. All that stuff in storage can stay stored. Don’t want it anymore. Buh-bye.

As I was packing,I began to notice a redundancy in certain items. You know, multiples of the same darn thing. Now I am not blaming anyone for this, per se, but most of these items were not mine, if you know what I am saying.

I cleaned off the workbench and found 8 tape measures. EIGHT! On one workbench. That measures maybe 3’ x 6’. I know the size of the workbench because I measured it with one of the tape measures. When I brought up this fact it was defended by the remark, “Well, one of them is broken. And that one over there was given to me.” Insert eye-roll here.

This redundancy occurred in many rooms throughout the house with various items. In my frustration, I began to compile a list of things that can no longer be purchased and brought into the house. Ever. Here is a just part of that list:

tape measures
post-it notes
clamp style paper fasteners
complimentary hotel soap, shampoo, conditioner
chap stick
sharpies
pens
extension cords
surge protector power strips
flash lights
back scratchers
sunglasses
books (we have a Kindle now, so no more actual books!)
letter openers
knives
shoe horns
garden tools
hand tools
wood working tools
Ah heck, tools in general!!!!

Now I am sure that my better half, who I love with every fiber of my being—seriously, has his own lists of my redundant crap. But he doesn’t have a blog. Lucky me!

Anyway, the house looks great and has a bright and shiny For Sale sign in the front yard. Now, somebody please buy it so we can move to a new home. And start collecting new crap.

Oh, in my original post I said I had excuses for my lack of blogging. Moving is only one excuse. I have an even better one than that. But your going to have to wait a day or two for the reveal! Check back because it’s a really, really good excuse. Promise.

My Little Fashionista

2011-06-03T05:48:00.000-04:00

Let me start out by saying, I was never a girly-girl when I was growing up. Never. Tomboy would be a much better descriptor. I liked sports and playing at the creek. I would take shorts over dresses any day of the week. I kept my hair short and easy to style. I simply didn’t want to fuss over what I looked like. I wanted to play.

So my question is, how did I get such a girly-girl? Molly wants to wear a dress every.single.day. She measures the dresses in her closet each morning to see which one will pull out the most, which ensures it’s spinability when she twirls.

Don’t even get me started with the hair. She wants it as long as possible and almost cries at the thought of a little trim to even up the ends. Each day she decides on a hairdo and selects hair pretties to match her outfit.

At five years old.

I shudder to think where this is going when she gets older.

I probably do feed the monster. There are such cute clothes for little girls and I do love to shop for her. So I may be partly to blame. Partly. The rest is in her DNA. She is just a girly-girl.

Each season I post pictures of her new clothes. This is mostly an attempt to have a visual keepsake.That way it is easier to give the clothes away when they don’t fit anymore. Good idea in concept, but I still struggle each time I have to put something I loved seeing Molly wear into the Goodwill bag.

This season’s selections ran the gamut in terms of where they came from. Hannah Anderson, Target, Gymboree, Walmart, Old Navy, Carters, Costco. Where ever there was cute, we found it. And purchased it.

First up…the dresses. These will be the most worn things in her closet. Guaranteed.

The dress on the left looks huge, but Molly picked it because it’s a twirly-whirly dress. Spin factor of 10!

Next up is skirts. These will get worn if all of the dresses are in the wash. Or I make her wear them.

Finally the shorts. Not a favorite for Molly, but some things just require that you wear shorts…despite the protests.

Ooooh, don’t forget the shoes!

Four bathing suits may seem excessive, but we are at the pool every.single.day. These will all be worn out by the end of the season.

And here is a picture of the bathing beauty who insisted that I take a picture of her in her favorite bathing suit and put it on the blog.Requesting bathing suit pics to be posted on the blog? At five?

Wow, the clothes may be the least of my worries when she gets older.

May in 36 Pictures

2011-06-02T18:32:00.001-04:00

I know that I have slacked off before, but never this bad. Is there anyone out there still reading this blog? Hello? Anyone?

This time I have a really good excuse. Seriously. Actually I have two of them. But I’m not going to tell you now. You are going to just have to take my word for it. I’ll blog about it later. Promise. It won’t take me I month until I post about it. Hopefully.

Sit back and get comfy, because here is the month of May (and a few days in June) in thirty-six glorious pictures.

This picture is so old that I am not even sure why I took it or why Molly was coloring outside. Pretty appropriate way to kick off the picture extravaganza, no?

Moving on, here’s Molly nibbling the ears off of her chocolate bunny. My guess is that I took this picture shortly after Easter. Just saying.

Random picture of Molly putting a puzzle together. Probably took this near the beginning of May. Not sure of the significance, but she looks awfully cute (and grown up) doesn’t she?

Got a date for this one and I even know why it is important. May 5, 2011 Molly went to the dentist for the second time. I took pictures for the historic second visit because I didn’t take any 6 months ago on her first visit.

Before

During

After!

May 6, 2011 Mother’s Tea at Preschool

The kids preformed a touching song. I did videotape it but I don’t have time to download it to youtube and link it in. You’ll just have to trust me…it was cute. And touching.

As the name implies, we went to the cafeteria for tea, and cookies (and fruit and cheese and crackers, but who wants those things when there are cookies).

I also got this lovely pansy in a pot decorated especially for me by my sweet little girl.

And here’s the obligatory group picture.

Moving on to May 9th…Molly and I bumped into Jackson and his father and two brothers at the park. Molly and Jackson had a great time playing together. Take a look:

May 14th Playgroup Slumber Party

It wasn’t actually a slumber party, but the girls did get together bright and early, donned in their PJs. They ate a delicious breakfast……

…hung out with their best buds…

…played in Avery’s rockin’ playroom…

…decorated pillowcases, played Twister (sorry, no pics of those things) and took the obligatory group shot, which I just love.

Oh, and us moms had an okay time, too! Love ya, gals!My friend Christine and I hosted this event, but I really must give Christine the props. Not only have I been slacking on the blog, but in life, as well. Not slacking in all areas of my life, mind you, but this month took some prioritizing. Thank goodness that awesome friends like Christine have been there to help pick up the slack. For this play date I made a Costco run. Christine did pretty much everything else. You rock, my dear sweet friend.

May 21, 2011 Families With Children From China End of Year Performance

Molly took 3 Chinese Classes this year through FCC. Each class preformed, so she was on stage three separate time (plus one bonus appearance!)

Practice before the performance. Molly and Mia are on the floor in front.

Molly’s Chinese Language ClassShe’s got the bow part down pat!

Molly’s Chinese Dance Class

Molly’s Chinese Choir Class

Molly was asked to present flowers to one of the teachers at the end of the show.She looked so cute here that I couldn’t resist sneaking this picture onto the blogGiving Miss Lily flowers.

Azaleas Through the Years…

Every year I take a picture of Molly in front of the Azaleas. This year they were late bloomers. I guess it was the fact that the during the month of May it rained every.single.day. and never got out of the 60s (grrrr!).

Oh well, here we go down memory lane:

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old (Ummm, a bit late on the azalea pic that year…no blooms.)

4 years old

And finally…this year at 5 years old!

May 25, 2011 Preschool Graduation

Can you believe it? Molly is officially finished with preschool. I refuse to call her a kindergartener until she actually sets foot in class on the first day. Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

Getting her certificate

Yet another obligatory group shot

Hanging with the girls

Love, love, love the director, Mrs. Riley!

And that takes us to today, June 2, 2011!

Things have slowed down ever so slightly in my life. Molly, Mia and I actually had time to go to the park.And I got time to finish this blog. Whew!

Now here is just a little hint about one of my reasons for slacking off over the past month. Any guesses?

Party Girls

2011-05-02T13:34:00.000-04:00

When you have a five year old, you go to the zoo a lot (see previous post). Fear not…this is not another zoo post!

Another thing you do is go to parties. Lots and lots of parties. And when you are as social as Molly, you have more than your share of friends, who all get older every.single.year.

This party was a bit different for both Molly and me. You see, It was the first drop-off party. A party where Molly goes, and I don’t. *sniff, sniff…my baby is growing up*

Because of the drop-off aspect of the party, I didn’t get a lot of pictures, which is simply a crime. How can I adequately document my child’s childhood without pictures?

I managed a few at drop-off and pick-up. I guess that will have to do. Sigh.

Here’s our party girl posing before entering the party.

And here she is with the guest of honor, Brooklynn (on left) and Makenna (on right).

And this is where I made my grand exit. Shunned. Left to face the cruel world, all on my own….

WAAA HOOO!

Two glorious hours to myself! To do things that I want to do! No buckling of car seats, no ~~bribing~~ explaining to a child how I expect her how to behave in a store. No one to make happy but little old me.

And that’s just what I did. When I returned to the party, I was sporting a brand new pair of shoes on my feet, with another brand new pair of shoes waiting for me in the car!

Ahhhh, two new pair of shoes that I got to shop for alone. All alone. No whining. No complaing. No “How much longer are you going to be, Mommy?”

How luxurious. Not that I don’t love my kid, but moments this this are precious and few in my life.

Back at the party, Brooklynn was just about finished unwrapping gifts. Guess I need to review with Molly how to sit like a lady when you are wearing a party dress. I see London, I see France, I see Molly’s underpants.

Okay, that’s little more lady-like, sweetie. Just trying to keep the blog “G” rated.

This party was at a cupcake bakery. Each party guest got to decorate 6 cupcakes to bring home. Yum! Here are Molly’s creations.

So, I guess we both survived to first drop-off party. Molly got a boxful of cupcakes, I got 2 brand new pairs of shoes. Looks like a win-win situation!

The Field Trip

2011-05-01T13:05:00.001-04:00

I hate to do this to you, I really do. And I apologize in advance. You see, Molly went on a field trip the other day and I want to blog about it.

I blog for a couple of reasons. One: Periodically I have my blog turned into a keepsake book for Molly, so I like to keep track of all of the things that we do. Two: My parents in Colorado live for Molly. They don’t care if I post pictures of the back if her head. They want pictures, and lots of them.

So why am I apologizing for this blog post. Well…. because….. okay, okay I am just gonna put it out there, folks: The field trip was to the zoo.

Yes, the zoo. Again. For the millionth time, I a blogging about the @#$&* zoo. I’m sorry. Truly. If you want to stop here and go on to someone else’s blog, I understand. But if you hang with me, thank you.

Alrighty, the day started out cold and rainy. No big surprise, it’s been raining nonstop for over two weeks. We came prepared.

Next was the obligatory group shot of Molly’s preschool class, her teachers and some random parents.

Periodically, the sun shone through the clouds for a fleeting moment. Here’s Molly and Jackson on one of the many zoo statues that you have seen in a bunch of other pictures.

I love this picture. Three fiery redheads--Kelsey, Makenna and Landon—with a sign above them that states, “May be hot to the touch.”

Molly with a stingray passing by.

Looking to see where the stingray swam off to.

Molly could spend hours playing at this boat.

Molly, Evan and Makenna standing on the back of an alligator.

Makenna and Molly: Snake Charmers.

Claire, Brooklynn and Molly hanging out by the penguins.

Molly always wants her picture taken with this penguin. Today was no different. Apparently she doesn't realize that she completely covered up her penguin buddy with this model-like pose.

The girls in the monkey cage…another zoo location that Molly could play at for hours.

Kelsey, Landon and Molly get a massage at the Footsie Wootsie chairs.

Molly and Bella looking cute.

At the end of the day, the kids attended a wildlife class where they got to touch an actual snake. Yuck. Molly had no apprehensions, though. She thought it was cool. Again I say, “Yuck!”

So, there you have it. The zoo. Again.

Wish I could promise that this would be my last zoo post, but I’d be lying. We go to the zoo a lot. I take pictures. Another post is simply unavoidable. I do apologize.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

2011-05-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

And with as much rain as we got this April, May has arrived with multitudes of gorgeous flowers.My favorite is the big pink flower in the middle of each picture. …the tulips aren’t bad either!

Enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature…Happy Spring!

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T13:26:00.001-04:00

Easter arrived a day early this year. My sister-in-law Karen and her husband Jeff invited us to their country club for brunch and an Easter Egg Hunt. How can you say no to an offer like that? So Saturday morning we got all dolled up and headed to the club.

Molly was thrilled to get her picture taken with the Easter Bunny. Six months ago this would have involved, at the very least, some heavy bribery, coaxing, processing of feelings, and tears. A lot of tears. And even after all of that, there was a good chance that there would be no lap sitting anyway.

What a difference a few short months have made!

Molly was so eager to sit on the Easter Bunny’s lap that she volunteered to do it again with her cousin Allison.

At brunch, Molly got very brave and tried two new foods: bacon and sausage. Healthy? No. Delicious? Yes! And Molly agreed whole-heartedly. She devoured them with gusto.

This might not sound like a big deal to you, but a few weeks ago I tried to get Molly to try one little nibblet of corn. The gag reflex kicked in before it was even on the fork and she almost hurled right on her plate.

Eating two whole pieces of bacon and a piece of sausage for the first time is big news in my book!

After a delicious brunch it was time for the Easter Egg Hunt. It wasn’t so much of a hunt as it was a grab. There were eggs everywhere. Non-stop rain for an entire week had left the lawn completely saturated. As a result, the hunting ground had to be reduced to a patio.

No matter, Molly still had a great time collecting her eggs.

And she loved having her Allison help her!

After the hunt Ally and Molly headed back to the clubhouse to check out the goodies. It was sugar-fest, as Easter should be.

Then it was time for family pictures. How cute are we?

In addition to everything else, the club has hired two people to make balloon sculptures. Molly was beyond thrilled.

She picked a pink flower. A perfect selection.

Uncle Jeff had to attend a family funeral so didn’t make the brunch or hunt. He did manage to make it right before we left, so had to get him in a picture. Karen and Jeff, Thanks for inviting us to spend the day with you. We had a great time!

Back at home, it was time to color Easter Eggs.

Molly took this job very seriously. In previous years, she did not have the patience to let eggs sit in the dye very long. We had lots and lots of pastel eggs. This year, she had boatloads of patience.

She let her eggs marinate for what seemed like hours so that she could get nice bright colors. She carefully checked, and rechecked, and check her eggs again.

Nope, not even close to being done…

There was plenty of time to take pictures (and do laundry, and wash dishes and mop the floor and…) while we waited for the eggs to achieve the perfect hue.

Finally, the task was completed (and it was almost time for bed).

Molly had more fun after the eggs were done. She sat and mixed colors, moving liquid from one cup to another to see what would happen. A hot mess is what happened, but she seem to be thrilled with the results.

Late last night the Easter Bunny visited, filling Molly’s basket to the brim.

Molly was up at 7:00 AM, eager to check out her basket. Her Dad and I were not so eager. We invited her into our bed to cuddle and grabbed a few more ZZZZZ’s.

By 8:30 we couldn’t delay the inevitable any longer so headed downstairs.

Molly carefully inspected each little surprise that the big furry guy left for her.

Yes, she was a happy girl!

Mmmmm, nothing says Easter like a sugar coated Peep. Yummy!

I am sure Tony (and the jowls that Molly created for him) are less than thrilled with this picture, but dang if that little Molly isn’t looking cute as a bug!

Since it was raining, the Eater Bunny left a big basket of eggs with instructions for mom and dad to hide them in the house.

Five-year-olds are not great and finding things that are right in front of their faces so trying to find things that are hidden is a real challenge. Maybe the country club had it right, just throw the eggs out everywhere and let the kids grab.

After what seemed like an eternity, Molly found all two dozen eggs.

Then she got cracking, opening up each egg to reveal its sugary surprise.

Sure, there’s a smile on her face now, but there will be tears and a timeout later--after the sugar high wears off. Just saying.Happy Easter, Baby!

And Happy Easter to all of our friends and family!

Some Random Pics, The Zoo, and Some Video, T00!

2011-04-19T20:05:00.001-04:00

Because my parents are always pestering me for more blog posts, here is some random pictures taken over the past few weeks.

Random Pictures 1:

Molly had Pajama Day at school. The school had a charity drive where the kids brought in new PJs and books for underprivileged kids. In return, they got to wear their pajamas to school.

Molly was so thrilled at the prospect of this, she picked out her PJs a week ahead of time. The night before, she took her bath and put on her favorite panda footie pajamas. She thought it was great to go to bed, wake up the next morning and already be dressed for school.Molly and the rest of the class had a blast and collected a lot of needed items to donate.

Random Pictures 2:

Every year on Gotcha Day, I give Molly a small gift that we purchased for her in China on our adoption trip. This year it was a puzzle of China’s Provinces. Molly loves puzzles so was eager to get started.

I assumed that there was a picture underneath the puzzle so that she would know where to put the pieces. Right before Molly dumped the puzzle over, it occurred to me that I paid the equivalent of 10 cents for it in China. The quality might not be that high. There might not be a guide picture.

I took a little peek under one of the pieces, and discovered that there was not a picture underneath. Luckily, I have my new all-in-one printer/fax/scanner/COPIER. I plopped the puzzle on the copier and got a rockin’ color copy to act as a guide for reassembling.It didn’t take Molly long to get all of the provinces neatly tucked back into their proper location.

Random Pictures 3:

Every year Tony buys seeds, starts his little vegetable plants sprouting, loving transplants them, waters them, weeds them, tends to them and then leaves them on the vine to die. Seriously. He never harvests them. Whatever.

Apparently this year is no exception. Here are Molly and Tony getting this years crop ready for their inevitable fate.

Random Pictures 4:

Molly saw me writing this blog and told me to take a picture of her work of art that she drew on her white board. So hear it is:

It’s a brachiosaurus in the rain. I was told that you can tell it’s a brachiosaurus “because it’s standing next to a tree.” Well duh, isn’t that obvious?

As the title to this blog post implies, there are random pictures and Zoo Pictures. Guess what is coming next?

It was a beautiful day last Friday. I picked Molly up from preschool and was walking back to the van when I had a spontaneous moment. I don’t have those very often, but I did that day.

You see, the zoo is located next to Molly’s preschool. The sun was shining, it was warm, and I could see the zoo. I actually strung all of these occurrences together and realized we could spend the rest of the day at the zoo!

Wow, what a concept!

We rarely go to the zoo alone. Most of the time we meet friends there. So this was a pretty special day. Add to that the fact that this was a spontaneous trip so I had nothing with me. That means we actually consumed overpriced, greasy, sugary and nutritionally void zoo food for lunch. Told you it was special.

I did have a camera with me, so did capture the memories. Molly actually ran from place to place and ~~demanded~~ asked politely if I would take pictures of her.

When Molly was three, she asked to play on the zoo’s playground. It’s one of those multi-level play structures where you climb around inside. I said sure and turned her loose.

When it was time to go, she disobeyed me and ran back into the play structure (which I can’t fit in) and continued to play…four separate times. Yes, four times.

When I actually got my hands on her she was in some serious trouble. I ~~restrained~~ gently carried her from the back of the zoo, through the exit at the front of the zoo and all the way across the parking lot. All the while she was kicking and screaming at the top of her lungs, “Put Me Down!” Joy.

Once she calmed down I told her that she couldn’t play at that playground until she was four. An entire year. She knew she was in trouble, big time.

Ya know what? She never asked to go back to that park at all when she was four. Not once. She’d look at it and say, “That’s the park where I got in BIG trouble.” But she never asked to play.

Now that she is five, I guess she figured it was safe to ask to play there again. She was very polite and told me that she would come down the first time she was asked.And that’s just what she did. I guess she learned her lesson!

And now for the moment you have all been waiting for, well at least my mom and dad have been waiting for….the video.

Little technical problem, though. You have to tilt your head to the right to view the videos. You see, I captured these clips from my regular camera. I held the camera portrait style. Apparently once you download to the computer, you can’t turn video like you can turn pictures. Who knew? They are stuck in landscape format. So you have to watch sideways.

Here’s the first exciting clip. It features Molly jumping over her jump rope 20 times. Yes, 20 times. Sit back, relax. It takes a while.

Jump, Molly, Jump!

Did anyone besides my mom and dad really watch that whole thing? Be honest.

Next we have Molly saying a dinosaur name for every letter in the alphabet. Riveting!

Dinosaurs A to Z

And finally, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, in Chinese. Mostly. I think.

Chinese Twinkle

There you have it. Random Pics, The Zoo and Video Too!

Gotcha Baby!

2011-04-11T17:40:00.001-04:00

Family Day, Metcha, Day, Adoption Day. There are a lot of different names for it. For us, it’s Gotcha Day.

What ever you call it, this is the day that our beautiful baby girl was first placed into our waiting arms. The first time that we saw her in person. For two months prior, we stared at, kissed, talked to and loved a picture. But on Gotcha Day it became real. We became a family.

March 29, 2007 was a joyous day, but it was also a difficult day. We were madly in love with Molly, but Molly, not so much in love with us. Molly was grieving hard. She screamed and screamed. We could do little to comfort her. We were also the parents of a one-year-old, not a newborn. She was used to her routine and we had no clue what that was. She was frustrated, to say the least.

Flash forward four years (FOUR YEARS! How did that happen?) and things are much different. We have a confident, secure, loving daughter who doesn’t look at us and scream, but instead showers us with kisses and hugs .

Although 3/29/2007 will forever be one of the best days of my life, 3/29/2011 was filled with much more mutual love. I don’t know how it is even possible, but each day I love my little girl more than the day before. She is amazing and her Daddy and I are the luckiest parents on earth.

Instead of screaming, crying, mourning,and stressing out, here is how we spent Gotcha Day #4.

Molly started out with a little dress up time.

And then it was time for soccer practice.

Molly requested Chinese for dinner. Anything that I didn’t have to cook was okay with me. I was knee deep in pneumonia

Here’s my little girl showing us how to use chopsticks. This is a skill she taught herself. When she is determined, she can do just about anything. ….and she finishes up with a cute face, just to let us know that she is showing off.

When Molly and I went to China last November, we finally downloaded the video off of the camcorder and onto the computer. Now we can actually watch it. What a novel idea.

I like my memories sanitized. All of the unpleasant parts, like bad hair and pants that make my butt look big quietly forgotten, and only the pleasant warm-fuzzy moments remaining.

I am not a huge fan of video. Video shows bad hair, big behinds and a variety of other unpleasant things that I would rather not remember. There is no hiding from the truth.

Anyway, Molly wanted to watch her Gotcha Day video for the very first time. How could I say no? I even managed to dig up some yummy leftover Chinese Birthday Cake in the freezer.

Molly was enthralled with the video. She wanted to watch every last minute of our trip to China.

And I must say that the video turned out better than my sanitized memory. It all seemed so calm and peaceful. I don’t remember it feeling that way at all. In actuality, it probably wasn’t. But apparently, when the camera was on we all fell into this Zen-like state.

Last stop of the evening was a walk down memory lane.

Molly and Tony 2007.Molly and Tony 2011

Me and Molly 2007Me and Molly 2011.

Don’t know how many more years I can recreate the 2007 photograph, but as long as she requests it, I’ll give it my best effort!

Happy 4th Gotcha Day, Molly! Mommy and Daddy thank God and China for creating such a perfect family. We love you!

Dante’s 7th Circle of ….

2011-04-11T11:00:00.001-04:00

Well I’m sure you know the rest of this line.

And so do I, because for the past few weeks I felt like I was a visitor to this place. Front row seat.

About two weeks ago, I got pneumonia. Again. Twice in one year. There’s proof right there that life is not fair. It was awful.

This was probably the sickest I have ever been in my life. There are no adjectives to describe it so I won’t even try. Just look at the picture above and you can pretty much figure out how I was feeling.

I probably should have been in the hospital for a few days. There were times that I fantasized how great it would be if I could just check in. For me it would have felt like a Club Med vacation. Morphine drip, inhaled steroids and forced bed rest. Aaaaah.

But I had too much to do to go that route. Think that could have been part of my problem? I kept pushing along with the daily routine, went to a few meetings and delivered Molly to every one of her activities. Oh, yes I did. It wasn’t pretty, but I did it.

I did have a few meltdowns along the way. Ask Tony. I am sure they are etched in his brain. They were that ugly.

Anyhoo,I am glad to say that I turned the corner and am feeling much better. I promise to catch up on my blogging this week. And from now on I am just sayin’ “no” to pneumonia.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back On The Blog…..

2011-03-26T20:51:00.001-04:00

Yep, the party girls are back! When you have a lot of friends you have a lot of parties to attend. What can I say?

This one was for sweet little Abby-Doo. She is such a laid back, easy going, happy-go-lucky girl.

And here she is, the guest of honor. Abby turned 5 a few days after Molly.

And here is one of the party goers. Laid back? Happy-go-lucky? Easy going? Well maybe not, but still one of my favorite gals around!

And here is the rest of the gang.

Abby’s party was at a local gymnastics studio. There were games to play….

And apparatus to play on.

Molly even pulled out one of her favorite party tricks. “Hey Chloe, look! My feet are transparent!” (You may have to enlarge picture to see transparent feet)It looks like Chloe was more grossed-out than impressed!

After an hour of full-on fun, it was time to eat.

Molly and Elizabeth waiting for chow.

A little snuggle with the birthday girl.

It’s amazing how quiet the kids were during lunch.I think all of that playing gave them one heck of an appetite!

Molly just loves a good kid’s party, and ya know what? So do I!

Happy 5th Birthday Abby-Doo!

Spring, At Last!

2011-03-20T11:57:00.001-04:00

At least for now!

Last week’s warmer temperatures had us outside enjoying the fresh air. Everyday it wasn’t raining, you could find us playing in the sunshine.

On Friday, I picked Molly up from school and surprised her with a trip to the park. First visit of the season. Molly was beyond thrilled! She ran from place to place, visiting all of her favorite things.

I just happened to have my purse camera with me and was able to document some of the fun:

The week before last, Molly’s preschool hosted a Dad’s Night. Unfortunately, Dad was out of town all week. Molly was devastated. Well, maybe not devastated, but she was pretty upset. She missed the Sing-Along with the music teacher, Miss Annie, and the reptile guy who brought all kinds of cool slithery, slimy things for kids and dads to touch.

When Tony came home, Molly and I had a Father/Daughter Day all planned out. There was no reptile guy or sing-alongs but the two of them did get to spend the day together, no Mom’s allowed (somehow I managed to get by all alone at home! *grin*).

Molly and Daddy went to a movie—Gnomeo and Juliet—then out to lunch. Apparently Molly wasn’t a big fan of the movie and they left before it ended. She was, however, a big fan of lunch. Once again, she picked Panera for her Dad’s Day lunch. She just loves her chicken soup with a baguette for dunking.

She came home with a smile on her face and proclaimed that her dad was waaaay better than the reptile guy. Aaawwww! Ain’t she sweet?

I THINK THAT HE IS BETTER THAN THE REPTILE GUY, TOO!

YOU ARE A GREAT DADDY, HONEY! LOVE YOU BOTH TO PIECES!

Soccer, The Zoo, and Ceramics Too!

2011-03-19T22:26:00.001-04:00

A couple of months ago, Molly was at gymnastics. I was up in the balcony ~~talking with my friend Christine~~ watching her train. With my undivided attention, I was keenly aware of every move she made.

All of a sudden I heard her cry. A mother knows her own child’s cry above any noise. Molly’s is, well, distinctive. Loud might be a better word. Very loud. Loud enough to make EVERYONE stop. And stare. Including people in the parking lot.

When she finally made eye contact with me she shouted at the top of her lungs, “I HATE gymnastics! And I hate scrambled eggs, too!” (OK, the scrambled egg thing made me fall off my seat with laughter…can you say random?)

It took me a few weeks, but I finally got to the bottom of the situation. Molly thought that one of her coaches didn’t like her. Being the emotional soul that she is, she couldn’t handle to perceived rejection. She could not figure a way to solve her problem, so she decided to hate gymnastics.

I helped her work through her issue with the coach. I gave her lots of different strategies to try and eventually Molly was satisfied with the outcome. Within a few weeks she was happily tumbling across the gym once again. And she was eating scrambled eggs again, too.

Even though the situation was solved, it did give me reason to pause. Molly has been doing gymnastics since she was about two. Maybe it was time to try another sport.

Now that spring has sprung (sort of) here in the Midwest, Molly decided to give soccer a go, while still hanging onto gymnastics for a while longer. We will see where her interests lie and go from there.

Molly was thrilled beyond belief when I signed her up for soccer with her best friend, Mia. She even go to got pick out brand new soccer shoes and soccer shorts. Be still her little pink heart!

Here’s my girl in action at soccer class….

Obligatory first-day-at soccer-class picture.

Molly and best friend Mia vying for the ball.

The look of pure joy. I’m not sure if she loves soccer or her ultra-hip, pink and black soccer shoes.

More best friend cuteness.Yes, soccer class was a success. Until the end. You know things couldn’t wrap up all neat and tidy. Not with my girl.

As a final activity, the kids played a game with the coach called Sharks and Minnows. In this game the kids are the minnows and they run around the arena. The coach is the shark and he kicks balls at them. If the ball touches them the are out and have to sit down.

Well, when the coach saw an open line to Molly he kicked the ball in her direction. Maybe jus a tad too hard. Okay, maybe more than a tad. It was one of those shots where the ball hits flesh with a resounding THUD. Ouch.

Yes, there were tears. And yes, I heard the words, “I HATE soccer!” but so far she is still cool with scrambled eggs.

Later in the week, the clouds parted, the rain stopped and it got up to 67 glorious degrees. Molly and I met Faye and her two cuties, Alex and Abby, at the zoo.

These girls were on go-go-go mode all day long. Not sure if it was the great weather or having the chance to play together, but they ran everywhere all.day.long. Four hours of nothing but high energy frolicking and fun.

Striking a pose before we began our day.

We should have had a clue about how the day would go when the first thing to catch their attention was the storm drain.

We were at the zoo all day but saw precious few animals. The girls were just having too much fun being silly and playing games to be bothered with looking at animals.

Ahhh, yes. Cuteness abounded.

I love this set of pictures. Little Abby-doo was hiding during an impromptu game of hide-and seek. She is so pleased with herself for picking this hiding spot.

And laughed hysterically when she was found. They all did. That was our day. Three girls had enough laugher to fill up the entire zoo.

And plenty of photo-ops for camera happy mommies.

Faye and I commented on how lucky we were that our girls were part of our amazing group. They have played together since they were still in diapers. They are more like sisters than friends. They have a love for each other that runs deep. Makes our mommy-hearts sparkle. And Molly never said, “I HATE the zoo!” Not even once.

Finally, the week ended with Chinese class and a playgroup outing. This trip was to a paint-your-own-pottery store. Each girl picked out a ceramic piece that totally suited her personality.

Molly, of course, picked a glass slipper. Always my princess.

Getting directions and supplies…

The girls in action.

And of course there was plenty of time to play, as well.

And so ends a big week in our little neck of the woods. Loving the springtime weather and all of our good friends! And even liking gymnastics and soccer, too.

Can You Stand One More Party Post?

2011-03-06T18:47:00.000-05:00

How about two? In one day. Is that pushing it? What if if I told you that only one of them was for Molly.Would that be easier to take?

Yes, it was a new week, and a new excuse to party.

Let’s start with Little Miss Emily’s party. Emily is part of Molly’s playgroup and the girls have played together for the past three years. There was no way we were going to miss her party, even if I had a houseful of company show up at my doorstep before I got home.

Here’s the 6-year-old birthday girl looking oh-so-cute!The theme for this party was American Girl, as in American Girl dolls. Molly was thrilled that she got to bring her new AG Bitty Twins with her to the soirée.

Throughout the party there were various activities designed for the girls and their dolls to do together.

Here’s Molly doing the runway walk during the Mommy/Baby fashion show.

There was also cheerleading…

…and dancing in bubbles.Molly and her dolls had fun, although the boy twin sat with me for most of the party. It was kind of a girl thing and he was feeling a bit out of place.

I did convince him to join his sister for the tea party. He agreed, but I think he just did it for the cupcake.T

here was plenty of other fun to be had at the party like decorating goody bags!

And hanging out with good friends.

One final picture of the girls and their dolls before we were out the door….and heading for party #2!

For her birthday, Molly had a party with her friends, celebrated again with the kids at school and had an entire day dedicated to her every wish. Seems like that should be enough, no? Absolutely not, if you asked Molly!

She needed just one more party in order to celebrate turning five with her family! So immediately after Emily’s party we headed home to party one! more! time!

We started out the evening with Chinese Food—Molly’s yearly birthday request. Yum!

Molly was thrilled to have cousins Matt and Allie help her open gifts.

Some books from Mom (once a teacher, always a teacher).

This was the one gift Molly HAD to have. It’s a pointer like her teachers use in her classroom. Funny, the things kids want!

Molly got these cool travel games from Auntie Molly and Uncle Eli. They will come in so handy on one of our many road trips.

Chinese clothes for the Bitty Twins.

A super cool game from Aunt Karen and Uncle Jeff.

The much coveted princess t-shirt from Grandmom.

Princess beach towel from Allie and Matt.

Woo Hoo! A Wii Game System from Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Shel! Molly calls it her “V.” Apparently she must have some German in her somewhere.

Grandmom gave her a princess game for the “V.” Yes, she is still into princesses but things have backed off from the previous princess obsession. Thank goodness.

Mom and Dad came through with a PINK controller for the “V”…

…as well as another game.

Uncle Jack hit the mark with all of her favorites: Pinkalicious, a “V” game and Dinosaur Train DVD.

Then it was time for the cake. If you are keeping track this is Molly’s third cake! Somehow I don’t think she minds.

Hope all of your wishes come true, sweet baby girl!

The next morning I realized that I didn’t take any pictures with most of the people at the party. Bad Mommy! I was lucky enough to get a few with Grandmom and Uncle Jack before they headed for home.

Okay, so that’s it. We’re done with parties. D.O.N.E. ….at least for for this year!

5th Birthday Start to Finish

2011-02-28T15:43:00.000-05:00

Molly’s first birthday was spent in the orphanage in China. There were no pictures. There wasn’t a cake. No celebration. I can’t even tell you if someone whispered happy birthday into her ear or even noticed that it was her birthday.

This isn’t a slam on the orphanage. Seriously. They took very good care of Molly while she was there. But they were caring for over 400 kids. Hardly time to get the essentials done each day. I would think that birthdays came and went without much fanfare.

On Molly’s second birthday, I decided to document the entire day with pictures from start to finish. We weren’t going to have a birthday slip by unnoticed ever again. Somehow it became a tradition.

Today was no exception. I had my camera handy all day long and snapped away.

Molly’s big party was on Saturday and Daddy left to go out of town very, very early this morning, so it was just me and Molly on her special day. But that’s okay, we still had fun.

Here’s is this year’s installment of Molly’s Birthday, Start to Finish:

The day started with Mommy waking Molly up at o’dark thirty. Molly is sooo not a morning person.

She got dressed for preschool and enjoyed her favorite breakfast: Pumpkin muffins with sprinkles, scrambled eggs and a yogurt smoothie.

After getting her hair done, she watched Four Golden Princess sing Happy Birthday to her in Chinese.

Then it was in the van and off to preschool.

At preschool the kids all sang Happy Birthday to Molly and they enjoyed white chocolate covered Rice Krispy treats. She even got to be a special helper in the classroom.

I told Molly that I would take her anywhere she wanted to go for lunch and she chose Panera (she’s a cheap date!). She likes their chicken noodle soup because it is so salty and deliciously yummy!

Once home, I had the DVD player all cued up with Molly’s Favorite: Snow White. She’s only watched it twice in her life so this was a mighty big treat for her…look at her beam!…and of course I had to rewind so that she could watch the part that she missed while posing for this picture.

Then it was time for some random silliness like playing balloon toss…

doing gymnastics…

and some interpretive dancing. Nice!

The afternoon was spent with a two hour gymnastics practice which culminated in a big jump into the foam pit.

Back at home Molly requested fried rice in the shape of bears, turkey rolls, broccoli, cantaloupe and yogurt smoothie left over from breakfast. I guess that is considered fine dining when your five. Personally I would have ordered the prime rib.

Molly already had a cake at her party, but golly gee, how can you have a birthday without cake. I found this one at the local Walmat and it was absolutely ~~disgusting~~ delicious with close to an inch of lard based frosting. But ooooooh! It had Cinderella on it!I would say that Molly was sugar heaven. Love those blue lips!

Molly opened a few birthday cards…

…and talked to several people who called to wish her Happy Birthday.

By this time it was well past her bedtime, but hey, it was her birthday. She took an extra long bath, splashing and playing in the bubbles.

Then it was time for a bedtime story. Aunt Shel gave Molly this book when she came home from China. And since the title is Every Year On Your Birthday, that’s when we read it!

Finally, time for bed. Molly came to us with two fingers in her mouth. For about two years they never came out. Now they usually only go in when she is sleepy. She still kind of looks like my sweet little baby…Just a little more grown up!

Molly, you bring so much joy to our lives. Everyday you giggles and smiles make our hearts sparkle. You have grown from a helpless baby into an independent and feisty five year old!

We love everything about you, from the kind, compassionate, silly parts to the not-so-pretty parts that come out from time to time, because they all combine to make you the special girl that you are.

Happy Birthday, baby. Five years old, four years a family. We can’t wait to see what your future holds.

Just don’t grow up too fast, okay?