New Water Toys

Ready for Action

Oh Boy - This is Fun

Yeah - Fun for Me Too

Well, Maybe Not

Ahh - Come on Emma

I Want My Momma

She Fixes Everything

We bought the kids a couple of new cool water toys the other day and a brand new bright yellow bucket. Not sure why, but it seems like they both can play for hours on end with the most basic things. The only rule I had (since it was a little on the cool side that day) was that they could NOT get each other wet. 3.2 seconds later, guess what - yep, they were both wet.

Skates!

We recently bought Ryan a new set of inline skates to celebrate making straight A's all year. He had found an old pair of his brother's in the garage and had been wearing those even though they were several sizes too big as well as being duct-taped together! While we were at it, we went ahead and bought some for Emma too for her birthday. Words just can't describe how much it tickled me for Ryan to help her get them on, get the wheels set just so and then trying to teach her how to skate. He really is a sweet big brother!

Emma's 4th Birthday Party

Emma turned 4 today, but we celebrated her birthday on Saturday. The kiddos had a blast with the whole "cooking theme" thing. They decorated chef hats and then made marshmallow treats w/ melted chocolate and sprinkles. YUM! The theme carried over to the adorable b-day cake which was decorated like an apron. We really had a fun time and the guests all seemed to enjoy themselves. What kid doesn't like messy chocolate?!

Emma received some of the cutest birthday presents and she has been having fun with all of them. The sweetest moment of the day for me was when she opened up a box that I had gotten from her via one of our interns going to China ... a gift set box of all of the Olympic Mascots. She gave me the sweetest smile and then hugged me! Sweet baby that she is.

I'll post some more pictures of her playing w/ her presents later. Thank you friends and family for helping her celebrate her big day!

Fancy Nancy

A friend of mine recently told me about this series of books and how much her little girl enjoys them. She also told me about their local book store having a "Fancy Nancy Party" and how the little girls came all gussied up. But given the fact that Emma is not all that prissy (well, she has her moments) - I wasn't sure if she would like it or not. However, anything that sparkles catches her eye big time and she much prefers the sparkly hand-me-downs from my sister than anything plain that I might pick out for her.

So, we headed off to the book store last night because I wanted to pick up the latest edition of National Geographic because of it being centered around China this month. We looked for & found the "Fancy Nancy" books ... oh my, Emma is HOOKED. Thanks Denise! The icing on the cake is that even the paper cover on the book has sparkles and glitter on it. Emma is in sparkly heaven.

After reading it at bedtime last night Emma now wants a crown and some high heel shoes. Again, thanks Denise! I have a feeling we're going to be heading back to Barnes & Noble to buy a few more from that series. While I'm out, maybe I should try to find a sparkly t-ball glove and bat? hmmm ...

Farmer's Market in Nashville

We spent some time at the Farmer's Market while we were in Nashville a couple of weeks ago ... nice, non stressful strolling around time. Nice! Plus it was a great opportunity to try out some of the settings on my fancy schmancy new camera.

Here's a few shots - I particularly liked the one of the flower as I have never seen that kind of flower before (at least that I ever noticed anyway)!

Upcoming Birthday Party

Miz Divine will be turning 4 in less than a week. Her birthday party is scheduled for this weekend and we just can't wait! The theme this year is "Cooking Art" and the guests will be decorating little chef hats and then will be making marshmallow treats. If I understood the lady correctly, they will be dipping marshmallows into chocolate and then adding sprinkles. Just glad someone else will be cleaning up that mess instead of me! Surely the little dumplings will love that.

My joy comes from doing all the "theme" things that go along with it - even though it drives my poor husband crazy when I say a party has to have a theme. The party favors are child size aprons that we have personalized for the guests. Once they were made I packaged them in clear goody bags so that the name shows through and also included a child size rolling pin as well as a cookie cutter! The packages are in a mixing bowl to be handed out. Fun, fun, fun.





Of course the cake has to match the theme as well so I found this cute idea on the Family Fun website. The pocket will have a wooden spoon and a pastry brush instead of a fork & knife though.



I just love this kind of thing & can't wait for her party!!!

More on TN State Capitol

I swear it's going to take me a week to blog about one little weekend trip ... but I think our readers like pictures more than my ramblings :-)

Here's a few taken on our Capitol tour. There were a couple of things that stood out - first of all, I love - absolutely LOVE the wood panels in these old buildings. I wish we had those in our den! Second of all, I have a thing for the big light fixtures as well although those would over power our poor little den. Thirdly - the TN Capitol had an AWESOME library with the coolest staircase. Reminds me of some old movie that the name is escaping me right now ... but, still - they were cool! Even the ceiling in the library was neat.

Singing in the Rain

We had a little rain during our weekend in Nashville. Thank goodness for cute umbrellas! While we were there we also bought a really cute little red ladybug one too. Every little girl needs more than one umbrella.

Another State Capitol for Ryan

Tennessee State Capitol

My baby boy Ryan

Ryan was able to get a state seal on the brochure

Last weekend we ventured down to Nashville, TN to visit the State Capitol. This marked #8 that Ryan has been able to visit. We had been saving that one since we knew it was close enough to just make a short little weekend visit to. I had envisioned a weekend with gorgeous spring weather but unfortunately it was rainy and rather cold. We were able to overlook the weather though because my mother and her husband came out from Oklahoma and spent the weekend with us checking out Music City.

My buddy Toby was kind enough to make a map showing the ones we've visited so far ... not sure if this visual points out the progress as much as it points out how many more we have left!

Tears on a Perfectly Beautiful Day

Sometimes it's difficult to explain Emma's little personality. She can be a handful at times (mostly with her brother) and then turn around and be the sweetest angel. This morning was a perfect example. We were getting ready to head out the door this morning and she went to give her daddy a goodbye hug and kiss. As she crawled up in his lap she asked him "When is Jesus going to come down and fix your back?". I didn't realize it at the time but Brian told me that she then leaned in to him and put her little forehead right up to his and prayed for his back. Brian has had back problems for years but it's gotten gradually worse in the last few years and I know it breaks his heart to not be able to reach down and pick her up like he used to be able to do. I think in her own little way she recognizes that and wants her daddy to be healed.

Then as we were driving out of our neighborhood we saw the most beautiful sky. It was that mixture of blue and orange that is so pretty right before the sun rises. As we topped the hill I said something to Emma about how beautiful it was and she said "THANK YOU GOD FOR THE SUN!" Her statement was so heartfelt and passionate and just full of thanksgiving for our beautiful morning. She seems to always have that knack of being thankful and happy and it makes my heart sing with joy just to hear her!

What a great way to start the day!

I Have A New Toy!!!

And boy is this baby fast!

We went to Nashville this past weekend so that Ryan could visit yet another State Capitol (that makes 8 now ... not that I'm worried about how far we are to 50) and I was able to play with it and try out some of the settings. Now I can't figure out why it took me so long to upgrade!!!

More on Nashville later - it's been crazy around here.

Put Me in Coach - I'm Ready to Play

Miz Emma will be playing t-ball this summer so Ryan was out "coaching" her some this past weekend ... Can't wait to see that short little dumpling out on the field! We're ready, at least looks wise because I bought THE cutest little pony tail holders adorned with little baseballs! If nothing else, she's going to look darn cute on the field :-)

Future Engineer?

We spent this past Saturday working on our "Overcrowded.Busting at the seams.No where to move" garage. It seems like the garage has been a mess since we moved in 7 years ago and then it got even worse after the passing of Brian's dad, his brother and then more stuff came in from the two older boys. It was a mess to say the least.

Ryan & Emma played really well while Brian & I were cleaning and I just happened to look up and see that Emma had her wagon lined up behind her bike and that the handle to the wagon was on her bike seat. We all cracked up when she got on and started riding thereby pulling it around by holding the wagon handle down with her weight!

Quote for the Day

I don't typically read the mass emails that come through but for some reason I stopped and read one about Ronald Reagan ... thought this one was pretty good!

'Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.' - Ronald Reagan

Referrals

There were a few referral postings last Friday and I'm thinking there will probably be some more today. Our agency hasn't sent out anything yet but some other agencies are reporting that the cutoff date for this cycle was 1/9/06. That's 5 whole days.

Our login date is 7/6/06 which looks like it's not that far from this last date but wow, at this rate we still have a LONG way to go. With the current trend continuing we wouldn't be back in China until summer of 2010. There are 177 log in dates to cover to get from 1/10/06 to 7/6/06. For comparisons sake, when we adopted Emma each referral cycle was covering 30+ log in dates per month.

Not sure why but I'm really not as upset about this as I probably should be. For some reason I'm at peace that it will happen when it's supposed to happen. This long wait has caused some people to switch countries, some are now adopting domestically, some have switched to adopt a special needs child and then some have dropped out completely. We have done the necessary paperwork to pursue a special needs adoption but haven't yet officially changed over. There is one little girl in particular we would like to adopt but it would be an absolute miracle for everything to work out as it should so for now we just wait ... and pray ... and wait .... and pray that our petition will be answered.

Rocker Talk

Even though Emma will soon be 4 years old I still rock her every night. Not long, just enough time to have a few quiet minutes with just the two of us. We've had some pretty good little conversations during this nightly time and it also seems to be a good time for her to ask questions. Needless to say, I'm not sure when we will ever stop this little tradition!

Earlier this week as we were rocking she asked me "Does God have a beard?". Not knowing the answer I asked her what she thought and she replied that she was pretty sure he did because Jesus has a beard. Now, not sure how she knows that but if that's what she thinks then it sounds good to me. She layed there rocking for a few more minutes and she said "You know. I think God has a beard like Fred's". Fred is the artist who made her car for the AWANA race and she had just met him that day. You know, she just may very well be right ...