Flushed Out

Well, we got one nice day of bitter cold sunshine on this weeklong vacation.  Today is a complete washout, and I believe we're going to leave a day early tomorrow.  I would love to have left today, but the girls weren't convinced that the weather was really going to be awful, and I also didn't think it would be wise to leave when heavy storms were predicted.  But after being bored in the condo all morning, and then going out for a drive to Beaufort only to just barely miss getting caught in the downpour, and then being soaked through their socks as they jumped out of the car into a four-inch deep puddle, the girls are now sure we've had enough.  So we'll just endure the rain and drizzle expected tomorrow and drive (carefully!) through that.

This photo was taken in Beaufort across from Carrot Island, just before the rain started.  Wish the photo were clear enough to show the wild ponies that were on the shore in the background.

We were all grateful, though, for the lovely albeit cold day yesterday.  We started the day by heading out to the beach to pick up shells and just walk around, and it wasn't too terrible at that point because the wind wasn't blowing. 

At about 11 we headed back to the condo to get cleaned up and then headed out to grab some pizzas and meet friends at church for some fellowship and lunch.  It was such a joy to get to chat about our present lives and share some fun memories of the past as we recalled our time at St. Peter's about 15 years ago, pre-children.  I love how Christian friendships are timeless, literally!   After lunch the girls went outside to play with Jenna, a lovely fifteen-year old who won the hearts of both of them!  Jenna is also from China, and hers was the first family I ever knew who adopted from China.  Jenna holds a special place in my own heart, though she does not remember me at all.


After lunch, we returned to the beach and put on a couple layers of clothes and coats.  Merrilee had desperately wanted to build a five-foot tall sand castle, and Katie Mei wanted to dig a deep hole in the sand, so they both got to try their hand at making their vacation dreams come true.  Merrilee's sand castle didn't quite make it to the five-foot mark, but it was knee-high on her, and she was happy with it.  She decorated it with shells she had found earlier, and I was glad that we didn't have to bring all those shells back home.  I don't have the castle photos on this laptop right now, but once I get home I will add them.

Katie Mei, also with her own very heavy bag of shells (and sand!), tried to make a few sand castles, but really enjoyed the holes I dug for her more.

I, on the other hand, tried to just huddle into as small a blob as I could and stay out of the wind and blowing sand.  It was, unfortunately, about the worst day at the beach I can ever remember having in my entire life.

So, with the sun behind us, and more rain looming ahead, we're going to just call it a week and head back to my parents' house tomorrow.  Hopefully between now and then we will find something to keep us occupied.

Girls Gone Wild!

Okay, so we're not really going wild, but we are on vacation and are having a good time despite the awful weather!

We left on Friday and spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa, and then headed to NC on Saturday.  The second half of the trip was a LONG drive, over 6.5 hours with one potty stop.  I think we were in rush hour traffic the entire trip!  I don't know if it was because it seems to be spring break for a lot of schools, but Myrtle Beach was packed!  Good thing we had some fun books on CD to listen to in the car.  I think girls enjoyed listening to the books more than watching videos.

We got here around 4 pm, and after a brief check-in we ran out for some groceries and dinner.  Katie Mei got her first taste of hush puppies from the Sanitary Fish Market, where we always go when we visit here.  Unfortunately, the Sanitary closed up the windows in the floor that used to allow us to look at the bottom of Bogue Sound and give us a glimpse of the fishes underneath.  That was kind of disappointing, since we had told Katie Mei about it already and she was looking for the window in the floor.  She did enjoy her hushpuppies, though!

On Sunday we went to St. Peter's UMC where Jay and I used to be members.  It was a perfect day for a visit, since they were having a potluck dinner after worship, so we stayed to fellowship and catch up with friends.  The girls had a great time, and we even went back for Pioneer Clubs in the evening.  It was a fun day of worship and making new friends.  Katie Mei doesn't look too happy in these photos, but it's mostly because she didn't know Sonia who was taking the photos.  But despite the miserable look, she was laughing it up and having a blast when I took her back for Pioneer Clubs.  She went on into the classroom with other 4 and 5 year olds and didn't even look back to see if I was staying.  She was ready to go!

The weather has continued to drizzle and rain since we arrived in NC, and the temps are in the 40s, so we've been trying to find activities to keep warm.  Today we went to the NC Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores and the girls and I had a really great time.  We love going to aquariums, and this was a new one for all of us (it has been renovated since I was there last, many years ago).  The river otters are the hands-down favorites of visitors here, and of course Katie Mei fell in love with a stuffed otter in the gift shop.  We had to buy it (well, didn't have to, but it really was a cute otter!).  Merrilee, on the other hand, went straight for the books, and ended up with a book about a rescued baby owl.



 Merrilee was really excited about being able to touch the sting rays!  She could have stayed there for hours, I think.  Katie Mei wasn't so keen on touching scary stuff.  I was surprised that she willingly touched a corn snake when one was offered.  In fact, she went back for a second touch after the first one.  But both times after she petted the snake, she looked at her hands to see what made it so slippery.  The creature really was silky smooth.

The sting rays were also very soft and smooth, almost gel-like, and we had to be really careful not to scratch them.

There was also a tank with hermit crabs, anemones, and horseshoe crabs.  The girls loved them and Merrilee asked a lot of great questions of the women who were working there.  One of the women told me she could really tell when some kids were interested and wanted to think and learn.  As soon as I mentioned that the girls were homeschooled she nodded her head as if she wasn't surprised.  I am always amazed and pleased at how adults in non-academic educational positions can see such a difference in homeschooled kids.  It says a lot about how homeschooled kids learn to think for themselves and interrogate the world around them.  Merrilee pretty much decided on the spot that she'd love to have the job that those women have.

So now we're catching up on a little rest as Katie Mei naps for the first time since last week, and Merrilee is reading one of the books she brought with her.  I think I'm going to try to spend a little time reading, too, before we head out again to see what we can find.

Fourth Birthday, Part Deux!

Yesterday, after I posted, we got to work on the 30 cupcakes and the mini-cake.  Katie Mei and Merrilee both needed cupcakes to share with their Pioneers Club friends (Jacob already did his cupcakes in December), so I started whipping up batter.  I used two boxes of cake mix and make the 30 "cupcapes", as Katie Mei calls them, and then used the remaining batter in a smaller pan to make the perfect little cake for our family of five.  There won't be much leftover.   Love that!  Especially since we'll be doing another birthday cake later in the week for Merrilee.  The girls had lots of fun with their friends as they shared cupcakes, and then we had to call it a night.

In the morning there was a package for the girls from Aunt Paige.  They were both excited to open it, and Merrilee was tickled to get a gift, too, but sobered right up when she saw it said she had to wait until April 1 to open it.  You could practically hear the brakes screeching in her head!  I told her she would be able to open one of her other presents later when Katie Mei opened her, if she wanted, since I knew of one particular gift I thought she might like to take on our NC trip tomorrow.  So now she's looking forward to one more surprise from Aunt Paige when April 1 gets here. After Katie Mei opened her gift (she was thrilled with the barrettes and kept singing about them for the next half hour), I had her sit down and write her thank you note to Aunt Paige and Uncle Allan.  She obliged so nicely, and though I helped her by telling her what letters to write, she did an excellent job with her interesting mix of lower case and capitals.

Then we went outside to wait for Daddy to get home.  She sat on her bench "like Mommy".  That's her new pose, to "sit like Mommy".

Jay came home later this morning and after lunch we let Katie Mei open her gifts.  Surprisingly she did not ask to open gifts yesterday, like I thought she would.  I told her it would not be fun to open them without Daddy, so we'd wait until he was home, and she was all right with that, although she did ask if Daddy was going to bring her some presents, too.  Unfortunately, she kind of misunderstood, because as soon as Daddy came home, she rushed over to the table where her gifts were and proceeded to take one of the gifts right out of the gift bag without waiting for Daddy to put his suitcase in the bedroom or anything.  There were some tears as I told her we wanted to take pictures of her and watch her, so the poor child had to wait yet a little longer.


Finally, we all settled in and let her enjoy her presents.  The photos say it all.

The girls danced a bit to try out the new CD player, and then we spent about 45 minutes putting together the Playmobile Castle.  While I was getting dinner ready the kids went outside with Jay while he got my car ready for the trip tomorrow.  Katie Mei knows the way to her Daddy's heart.  (And I know Ms. Mindy would be proud of her, too!)

After dinner we hit the cake!  Despite always dumping her orange juice or milk, Katie Mei really does have good coordination and was able to serve cake to everyone.

 Happy Birthday, Girl!  The past two days have been a joy for all of us!

Is There a 4-Year Old in the House?

Why, yes!  As of this morning, there IS a 4-year old in the house! 

A little early-morning snuggling in bed, talking about what it felt like to turn four ("No different, I'm just a little taller."), and then we were cleaned up and headed to IHOP for blueberry pancakes, bacon, and milk.  That was her breakfast choice, and I could have made it at home, but I really didn't feel like making the house smell like bacon.  Plus, Momma got a nice fat cappuccino treat for herself!

On the way to IHOP I started to sing Happy Birthday to her.  She refused to smile and just acted kind of unhappy.  I don't know what thoughts were rolling around in her head, and maybe she was just hungry, but she was moody and blue, and didn't want to be sung to. Made me kinda sad.  I was hoping this would be a super special day for her.

Our waitress at IHOP was really sweet to the girls and after Katie Mei had her breakfast (which included the above plus a cup of milk and a bowl of fresh fruit), the rest of the staff came and sang their version of Happy Birthday and gave her a bowl of ice cream with chocolate, caramel, whipped cream and a cherry on top!  The child ate ALL of that food.  While she was in the middle of her ice cream I asked her if she was getting full.  She put her spoon down, reached down to grab her belly and pushed in, then looked at me and said "No, not yet."  She continued with the ice cream until the bowl was empty and she was sure she was done.  After that she looked up with a little moan and said "I fink I ate too much."  Ya' think?

Then we went to the Dollar Store for the super-marvelous must-have Mylar birthday balloon!  It absolutely made her day and put her in a much better mood.  Who knew a cheapo balloon would be the perfect remedy for the birthday blues?  I was so glad it did.  We put the balloon in the car (she held on tight, skipping all the way across the parking lot with the biggest smile and happiest laughter ever!) and then stopped over at W-Mart to pick up just a couple more things and then we headed home.

I decided that it was the perfect day for a few birthday photos, so I took my newly minted 4-year old outside and asked her to sit for a few.  She obliged for about 15 minutes, to inlcude one "costume change" and that was it. 

Since Daddy is not home tonight, we will probably save the party for tomorrow, and I will share those photos later.  But for now, we'll see how long she lasts before she begs to open a present.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!  I love you more and more with each passing day!

Where has the month gone?

I have not only let my blogging slide, I really haven't even been taking pictures.  I just uploaded photos from both my cameras and there were fewer than 20 pictures total.  For an entire month.  So unlike me.  I think I've got more cell phone photos from Jay than I do regular camera photos.

The routine here has been exactly that...routine.  Wake up Monday through Friday, get Jacob out of bed to get ready for school, send him and Jay out the door, do my day homeschooling the girls and squeezing in errands, and then feeding the family, wash 'em up for bed, read a story, and crash.  As for weekends, I don't know what we've done on the weekends.  Sundays are full with Sunday School, Worship, lunch, Merrilee's Chinese art class, dinner, and Ladies Bible study.  Fortunately I love every one of those activities, so Sundays are my busiest but favorite day of the week.  Saturdays I just go shopping or hang out at home.  Last week it was shopping. :-)

We had a couple of weeks which involved dentists and doctors over and over.  The kids had their dental check ups, and then I had to schedule the older two for getting their molars sealed.  We didn't have that as kids, so I didn't even think of it, but the pediatric dentist highly recommended it for children with deep grooves in their molars.  I guess both my kids qualified, because I had to take them both back again for sealant.

Then the following week Merrilee started with a terrible sore throat.   It continued with coughing for two more weeks, and upon finding that her tonsils were once again swollen, I took her to the doctor where she was given some allergy meds, and a referral for an ENT visit.  Before we could even make it to the ENT she had developed a horrible rash all over her torso.  Although everything pointed to a virus, she was also given an antibiotic.  To make a long story short, she is going to have her tonsils removed April 13th.  Those bad boys have been causing her trouble since she was about three years old, so we've all had enough of it and we're on the road to the ol' tonsillectomy.  She also gets terrible nose bleeds, so we'll see if having her adenoids out as well will help any of that.  Hope it makes a big difference for her.

I haven't said much about our adoption on this blog, but we are making slow progress.  We are almost done with paperwork.  Some delays with fingerprints between October and January had me a bit discouraged, but once they were cleared and our homestudy was done, we've been able to make more headway.  On February 25 we did the last of the fingerprinting in Jacksonville, Florida.  It was a quicky trip, with an afternoon drive down there, 30 minutes at the beach, an overnight stay, morning prints, breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and a dash back home.  Took about 28 hours total.  Now we are waiting on our immigration approval letter.  I had hoped to get it in the mail today, but it wasn't meant to be.  I am still hoping to have it by tomorrow, but won't be holding my breath over it.

We do have the exciting news that two babies are waiting for us in China.  They are both in the Gansu province.  We do not have formal approval to adopt them, since China has not received our paperwork yet, but we have pre-approval and are excited to know we are going to be a family of seven eventually!  The older child is a 19 month old boy, and the younger is a one-year old girl.  Today is her first birthday.  So sad to miss it, but so happy to know she'll be with us for her birthday next year, God willing.

The only other exciting news here is that Jacob lost yet another tooth, this time by chewing on his backpack.  Yep, he's always chewing on something that isn't designed for human consumption, and this time it was his backpack and the little Chinese tag which was given to him as a gift from his teacher's sister-in-law who is from the same province he was born in.  Unfortunately, Jacob does not value gifts, nor momentos that others consider sentimental.  So the little doo-dad from China was ruined, his tooth was broken loose, and I had to see it hanging there floppily, an eerie reminder of Merrilee's nasty loose snaggletooth.  When I brushed his teeth later that evening, that yucky thing started bleeding and grabbing onto the toothbrush.  So I gave him a tissue and told him to yank it out.  Without much hesitation on his part (but with terror in his eyes as wide as saucers), he pulled it out.  Plink.  It was over.  Easiest tooth pull I've ever experienced with one of my kids.  Yay!

The next day I discovered, in his backpack, a plastic pirate coin, bitten in half.  Wonder how long it's going to be before he starts breaking out his adult teeth as well. I'm glad we've got good dental insurance.  We're probably going to need it.

Last week I took the girls to the zoo for the first time since last summer.  The weather has warmed up but it's still cool enough for the animals to be out and active.  It was fun to stretch our legs and enjoy the time in the sunshine and fresh air.

In fact the weather has been so nice, we tried eating out on the backporch this past Saturday.  It was nice, until the neighbors started up their chainsaws again, and their dogs decided to hang out around our fence begging.  One even decided it was a good time and place to take a dump.  So we quickly finished our dinner and ran back into our stuffy, stale aired house, and ate our banana pudding dessert.  It was a nice attempt at a lovely spring dinner outside, but next time we'll do it when the neighbors are a baseball practice or something.

Next week I will be in NC with the girls visiting our timeshare.  I hope to have more interesting news and photos to post then.  Hope it won't be another month between updates.

Blessings,
Petrie