Good News!

We started our latest adoption paperwork back in September last year, had a three month delay due to fingerprint issues, and finally got the dossier logged in to China at the end of April.  That had to be the longest it has ever taken me to get a dossier complete, through no fault of my own.  Now, after waiting 76 days, we have gotten our approvals to adopt Joshua Fu Ning and Sarah Irene Xiao Jie!  Love that I can share photos with you!

Here are three photos of them taken together in May 2011, three photos of Joshua, and three photos of Sarah Irene. We hope to travel in October to bring them home.

Surprise Visit!

For about a month, I had a big secret to keep from Merrilee.  It wasn't easy, since this child manages to pick up on every clue and usually discovers secrets whether she wants to or not.  I had to do my best not to give it away, and a couple of times I thought I might have lost the fight, but secrecy did prevail, and Merrilee had the surprise of her life!

Last year we had planned to have our friends from Maryland, Katie and her three children Walt, Libby, and Annalee, come and visit, but things fell through and we were all so disappointed.  This year I decided to keep it a secret from Merrilee, and Katie and I plotted and planned to make it happen.  We even planned it down to how we were going to take photos when Merrilee answered the door.

The big day came two weeks ago, and sure enough, Merrilee was thunderstruck!  I was afraid she had figured it out because the day before she asked me if Katie and I had made plans for them to visit this summer.  But it was just an innocent question and she never knew.

Merrilee and Annalee were dear friends before we moved, and it was priceless to see them enjoy their time together again.  Merrilee has really missed having such a close friend.

Katie and the kids only stayed for two nights, but we packed in as much as we could.  We took the kids to the aquarium and the zoo, played in the pool for hours, and Merrilee and Libby even attempted piano/harp duets.

Jacob and Walt got to share bunk beds and Jacob really enjoyed having another boy in the house.

Libby also seemed taken with Katie Mei, and even remarked how much she loved feeling like a big sister.

Katie, we already miss all of you all over again, and hope we can do this once again next year.  Thanks for taking the time to come down here and stay with us!

Family Reunion Highlights

Jay has reminded me that I need to update the blog, but I really don't have much to share since school has been out.  The kids and I have been staying at home and swimming in the pool to try and beat the record-setting high temps we've been having here.  This was the temp on my back porch on May 29th.

The highlight of the past month was the impromptu family reunion at Mom and Dad's in South Carolina.  Paige and Allan flew in for a visit from Texas, so Patrick and his kids, and our family of five, all drove out there to enjoy a couple days together.  It has been several years since Patrick, Paige, and I have all been under the same roof, so this was quite a big deal.

The Original Five

Apparently I ended up being the short kid.

And the additional spouses and tax deductions.  We missed Patrick's wife, Becca, who did not join us, but we were very happy to meet their newest daughter, Evelynn, who just turned one.

Merrilee and Katie Mei loved their new little cousin, and spent most of their time playing with her.  Merrilee was absolutely smitten!

Hayden and Jacob had not seen each other in almost two years and it was wonderful to see them get along so well and play together.  Wish the boys lived closer and could spend more time together.

My brother Patrick with Evelynn.

Paige with the girls.

My nephew Pat and Katie Mei battling it out in a game of Tic-Tac-Toe at Olive Garden.  Pat, Jr. just turned 16 and he's growing into a wonderful young man.  I couldn't be more proud of him!  Not to mention, he's great with my kids. 

And finally, Paige's husband Allan holding Evelynn during her little birthday bash.  So glad we could enjoy a re-run of her first birthday.

I hope we can all get together like this more often.  We're all living a little bit closer now that Paige and Allan are in Texas.  The kids all grow up too fast to let too much time go between visits.

It's a Sweet Life!

No news, but a few photos to catch up on.  The kids went to their last Pioneer Club's event for the year and enjoyed playing in the water and shaving cream.  I didn't take my camera, so my friend Mindy covered for me and took some photos.  Merrilee and Jacob enjoyed playing in the shaving cream with the other kids, but Katie Mei seemed to get more enjoyment out of trying to smear it all over me!  By the way, she doesn't really like the fresh menthol taste of Barbasol.

Last weekend we attended a Family Day gathering at Chehaw Park with other Marine families from the base.  Smelvin the clown was there and made balloon things for the kids.  Katie Mei and Jacob also enjoyed bouncing in the bouncy houses.  Thanks to one of Jay's co-workers for taking the following two photos.

The best part of the event was when Katie Mei asked the balloon guy to make a flower for her.  I think she was a little stunned by what she received.  It wasn't what either one of us was expecting, and even Jay cracked up!  I was nearly rolling on the floor laughing at her reaction--she couldn't see it and she couldn't put her arms down!  She hasn't worn it since.

However, the bracelet, she wore all day.

Eggs and Chocolate

I think I'm about done with coloring Easter eggs.  Every year it seems to get messier and more annoying for me, and I'm already rolling my eyes at the thought of wrangling five kids trying to dip eggs into smelly batches of vinegar solutions while dribbling pastel colored stain all over their clothes and each other.  Just not real fun for me anymore.  But the kids still enjoy it, and I always seem to forget how much I don't, once the store shelves fill with Paas coloring kits (and Reese's Peanut Butter Easter Eggs) each spring.  So, the tradition continues, and I continue to go through a whole roll of paper towel and more than a dozen eggs, only to throw them away two weeks after they're colored. 

This year we graduated to the dozen-and-a-half size container of eggs.  I can't believe in a few years we'll be buying 30 eggs so each kid gets to color six.  We may have to find a new tradition, because I felt terrible throwing out all those eggs after Easter this year.  Tossing two dozen eggs will make me feel even worse!

I tried to change things up a bit and bought the marbleized egg kit this year.  I thought it would be like the one we used once or twice as kids where there were some drops of a toluene-smelling substance you put in the water, and the dye floated on top and swirled over the eggs when you dipped them.  I guess that stuff must have proven too toxic or something, because the kit I ended up with was just a nasty mess of dye tablets, and vegetable oil had to be added to the cups of vinegar solution.  I initially thought maybe some of the dye would be organic (from a chemist's standpoint) and dissolve in the floating oil while the water-soluble oil would stay in the water, and the two dyes would make a swirl effect on the egg.  Not so.  Essentially it was just a nasty, oily mess so the eggs came out nice and slippery, the dye dribbled into oily blobs on the picnic table, and the greased up eggs were not pleasant to touch, let alone peel and eat.  I will never do anything "fancy" like that again, unless the package explicitly states that the kit contains the old, wonderfully toxic, toluene-smelling poisonous dye that I loved as a child.

The day before Easter Sunday our church once again hosted the Easter Eggstravaganza.  Lots of candy and plastic eggs later, we came home, and proceeded to allow our children to fulfill their wildest dreams of a sugar high.  Merrilee, ever the conservative one, at a couple of pieces of candy and called it quits.  Katie Mei grabbed a few pieces of chocolate to eat, enjoyed them, and spent the rest of the day asking "Can I have a piece of chocolate? Can I have a piece of chocolate?" over and over.   Jacob not only finished all the candy from his Easter egg hunt at school three days prior, but he also finished every piece of candy from the Saturday egg hunt.  On Sunday, he finished all the candy received in his Easter basket.  There is no stopping that boy when he has candy waiting around to be eaten.  In the past I've tried to limit his intake, but then I have to keep watch to prevent him from sneaking it when he's not allowed to have it.  I now feel it's better to just let him feast, and then spend the next two weeks watching his sisters slowing nibble their stashes away.  Maybe one day he'll get it.

After church on Easter Sunday I made the kids suffer through sitting for a few photos.  Wasn't much of a photo session, but at least I got a few pics of them cleaned up and smiling.

Hope you all had a blessed Easter, too.  Now, onto summer....