It's Vacation Bible school week. We all like VBS because it's something we can ALL do together. Our cousin Gabe is here visiting so we're trying to maximize our fun this week. Zane has aged out of VBS but this year he is a helper in pre-school. I'm very proud that he chose to help and not stay home and veg on the couch.

After a long hot morning we all need a dip in the pool. Even Rocket

I asked all the kids to pick up 10 things before they went inside. I think they had pulled every single pool toy out. Gabe decided he would be on big equipment.

One year ago today

One year ago Today we were in Guizhou, China. We had no idea what was in store for us....neither did Ty. What a rollercoaster of a year it has been. He's been through 2 surgeries, had a cast, gotten stitches twice and other things in places we won't discuss. But no matter what he continues to amaze us. His attitude is always cheerful and he always has a little spring in his step.

He is a true joy to have in our family. It seems as if he has blended in seamlessley. Wow! What a difference just a year can make.

Proof that kids will argue about ANYTHING

My Gap is bigger than your gap....No my gap is bigger than yours.....No mine is defintley bigger...NO MINE IS

Until big brother steps in with a ruler. The results Kaylee 5/8"..........Trent 1/2"

Kaylee WINS

Mia's Pre-K Graduation

All I can say is I can't belive she's going to Kindergarten in 2 months

It's been a long time since I have been to the dentist. I guess as a mom you get sidetracked with everyone and everything else and sometimes your own dental health takes a back seat. Next time I need someone to push me back up to the front seat when I go this long with good dental care. Is 6 years really a long time to go without seeing a dentist? Anyway.

A few weeks ago I finally went in and was informed of the numerous cavities that would need the Dr.'s full attention. 2 of which were already beginning to bother me and I felt sure something was wrong in that location. Sure enough the Dr. let me know that the cavity was quite large and almost required a root canal. But he would try to let it ride with a filling "IF" when he got in there it wasn't to close to the nerve.

So today was the day.... I"m usually pretty good about handling these situations. But the fear began to build around noon. I went in and I must say that this Dr. did an excellent job, I did not feel a THING... Not a thing, He has a very gentle touch and I appreciate that greatly in a dentist.

However, something weird happened during the numbing process. I got a little too numb. My face and gums were numb but so was the rest of me. The room began spinning and I felt like I weighed 1000 pounds. I asked if this was normal but I got the You'll be OK speech. He said sometimes this does happen but usually leaves quickly. So, he began to work on my teeth and I got really relaxed. Flashbacks of a Seinfeld episode began to play in my head.

Then the theme song for Grease began to play and I wanted to jump up and dance. Thankfully, my legs were heavy like bricks and I couldn't move if I wanted to. About this time the drilling began. It's funny how the smell of filed teeth can transport you back to when you were 8 years old and sitting in the dentist chair.....During the drilling there was lots of praying. Not for me but for anyone I could think of. I was trying to focus my attention away from myself.... I prayed and prayed until at some point I was pleading with God that if he had any plans to rapture us in the next 7 days or so that NOW would be as good a time as any, Come Now! But I heard good job and the theme music to Footloose and knew that it was over and I had survived.

Apparently my reaction to the medicine was atypical. The receptionist said, "Dear, you look plum wore out" I felt plum wore out... so much so that I sat in the waiting room another 20 minutes before driving home. I still maybe shouldn't have driven at that point but I was ready to get home and it's only about a mile to my house. (David was shuttling kiddos around to birthday parties)

All I can say is it's over and I don't have to go back until....... about a month for a little more work.

Let the music play

Zane has done such a great job this year in band. He began playing Trombone in August of last year. I am amazed at the progress he's made. He seems to really have an ear for music. This is one trait he defintley gets from his father and not me. For example, he was taking a shower and when he came out he got his horn and said, "hey come see, I think I can play the wedding march." Sure enough he played it on his own without any music.

Last week was the end of the year recital. It started at 7:00 and ended at 7:14. (Got to love people that are organized and concise.) But we all sat there "shocked" at the quality of the 6th grade band with kids that have only been playing instruments for 9 months. AND the classes are divided by instruments so the entire band only practiced together once before performing. If I can figure out how to upload video from the camera I will put it up later. Until then look at the difference in music, the first piece is Zane's Christmas music and the 2nd is from something he played last week.

****bonus points**** to anyone who noticed the music is shown here upside down. I flipped it twice but apparently my computer has a beef with me and it won't upload correctly. I figure you can get the general idea.

Let the "Pecking" begin

Monday during a playdate with friends, Gayla reminded me that with the end of school begins the season of Pecking orders. I hung my head and remembered that she is right, so right. I hope I can not merely survive but maybe thrive also this year.

Every summer when the kids get out of school, everyone has to vie for the chance to be "leader of the pack" and each of the older kids has to remind the younger person, who is in charge.

It looks as if it may be a rough battle this year....

White Teeth

You know I LOVE having a 12 year old. They really "get" your jokes and start making a lot of their own. I taught middle school and I always enjoyed the kids. Yes, the hormones were wildly out of control, but kids that age can reason, think, and make good conversation....

Well the other morning I was driving Zane to school. I noticed that he probably had not brushed his teeth very good that morning. Having recently gone to the dentist myself, I began to tell him the importance of good dental hygiene. And keeping your teeth white.

He looked very serious for a minute and said, "Can you use bleach on your teeth?, You know like on clothes, just rinse it around...not swallow?"

Me - "Um, NO! It's poisionous"

He thought for a minute and said "Well, my teeth would look great for my funeral"


Well, maybe so Zane, maybe so....

But then I opened up a whole new can of worms when I tried to explain that the mortician sews your lips shut after you die

Two cuties

It doesn't get much cuter than this

Why I don't scrapbook at home?

As many of you know I have been making scrapbooks for about 12 years now. Thankfully I got in on the craft when it was just starting. But as time went by I began to crop less and less at home. Generally now I only crop twice a year, when some friends and I go away for a 4 day weekend. That's all we do there is work on scrapbooks, relax and laugh.

BUT

I've been working to get Ty's first year at home book completed. All it lacks is his 4th Birthday party and his dedication. So, Saturday morning I had a little time to work on it. I had already decided on a layout and gotten the pictures printed in appropriate sizes. I sat down with a few basic tools and a pack of paper to whip it out. After about an hour I ended up with this mess.....

I think I had to pull out every single item I owned to complete the page. But I'm satisfied with the results, and even more satisfied that I only have one more page to do. "Wish I would have had those pictures ready for scrappin'....everything was already out"

Marbles anyone?

Recently Trent earned a beltloop for learning to play marbles. A few days later I bought everyone their own set of marbles. It was really fun to see Zane and Trent playing together. It's sometimes hard to find games the kids can play together because of age differences.

Trent's drawing

Trent was a given a worksheet at school on how to draw Tigers. I am very impressed with his skills. Especially since he made each of them look a different way. He labeled them also. See if you can figure out what each tiger is doing.

I think I might get him one of those "Can you draw this turtle ad" to see if he can do it

Brownie Celebration

Kaylee finished up her second year of Brownies. To mark the occassion the girls had a party and received their patches.

Kaylee's leader, Mrs. Jean, had each of the girls come stand on the star and tell their favorite activity for the year. Some girls said, seeing the Sleeping Beauty play, some said roller skating, but Kaylee said having all the Girl Scout cookies at our house.

As with every good party there is a theme. This year the theme was Stars.

Kaylee's looking forward to continuing Brownies next year. Especially since there are two campouts. I'm looking forward to cookie sales again....once I've had some time to recover from last year.

Where have you been all my life?

A few months ago I received a gift for volunteering at the school. In the gift bag was a box of Nips. I remember Nips from way back when my grandma use to have the coffee flavored ones at her house. Not my favorite memory.

Being that I"m not a real candy kind of person, the kids wanted one or twenty so I left them out and the kids ate the whole box. Or so I thought....



I was cleaning off my computer desk and found one lone nip. So I unwrapped it and popped it in my mouth. And what happened next was pure joy.....the outside of the candy was a hard caramel but the center was a creamy, liquid caramel.....So, to make a long story longer....When I went to the grocery store I started searching for my new BFF Caramel filled Nips. However, the closest thing I could find were these Werthers Creamy caramel Filled...And they my friend, are almost an exact replica of the nips. And my local Wal-Mart carries them which means they are much more accessible.



Let me know if you try them...We can have a discussion of the goodness.

Birthday Boy Bash

Ty's 4th birthday party was orginally scheduled for Saturday but due to Mia's virus we had to postpone the party until the following Thursday. It worked out well that the kids only went to school for 1/2 day. So we had a few friends over for swimming and cake. We only invited the little friends that Ty actually knows, in the center is Tate, Nathan, Ty, Mia, Terry and Avery. But since most of those kids have siblings it turned into a full birthday bash.

Sick & Tired of being Sick & Tired

Well maybe the tired comes just from being SICK.



In our family we have had 6 sick people in 6 days. That is less than a week. (Just in case you forgot) But those 6 days have seemed like an ETERNITY



Kaylee started the fun( I mean misery) on Tuesday morning with Strep Throat. That same afternoon we were back at the pediatrician with Zane for.....you guessed it Strep Throat.



Thursday David had some strange stomach virus that I was sure was going to turn into Strep but never did.

Then on Friday we received a call from the school nurse. Trent had taken an awful fall on to the blacktop during their Recreation day. The teacher is pretty sure he blacked out for about 15 seconds. What resulted was a massive goose egg on his forehead. and 4 bandages to the knees and elbows. He was pretty shaken but bounced back quickly....

Just soon enough for me to leave him while I held Mia in between bathroom trips. IF you have a weak stomach you can stop reading now (Bye, Honey)
But I just have to share than Mia scared me to death. I have never had a child do this to me and I hope she will grow out of it. But during some of the vomitting episodes Mia would hold her breath. Then her legs would go limp and she literally fell down on to the floor. I thought she was having a seizure. More than one time. Until I realized what she was doing. It was scary.... very scary.

I was the only one who took care of her during her 24 hr virus. And apparently it incubates only about 24 hr before it strikes again.....YEP, I've got her virus. Hopefully I'll be back to normal as quick as she was. Thankfully, we were all well enough to go to church this morning for Ty's dedication (more on that later)

So far Ty has managed to dodge all illnesses and bodily harm. But tomorrow's a new day....

Mia gets a brother

Our friends, Lance and Julie are in China RIGHT NOW!!! They are adopting a little boy. We met Lance and Julie on Round 1 of our first visit to China when we adopted Mia.

Funny thing is they adopted a Mia too.....

I tried really hard to get Lance and Julie to name their little boy Ty so we could all match but they wouldn't go for it. So instead they've named him Elijah and I think they will call him Eli.

We hope to see them at the end of the summer and get to meet Mia's little brother Eli.....

Man....He's really a handsome little guy! I'd like to call dibs (RIGHT NOW) on him for our Mia......I wonder if the Clarks believe in arranged marriages?

We're so happy for them.

Yao

This past weekend David and I attended a marriage conference called God's Blueprint for marriage. It was very good. The teachers were great and although we feel like we do pretty good in this department it was nice to have a time to reflect on the past, and focus on the future. After the conference we went downtown for dinner. Mechiel had recommended Yao's Restaurant....Yao AS in Yao Ming. It was really good Chinese food. And the doors were 10ft high. Even the women's restroom door. I had a little trouble pushing the door open.We overheard the waitress say....there is a special room in the back for Yao and his basketball buddies. The tables and chairs are much larger and designed especially for him. We didn't get to see it but I'm pretty sure that if Mac would have been with us he would have found some way to get us back there. I thought maybe next time Mac and Gayla could go with us but it would be hard to convince Gayla to eat Chinese food just to see some gigantic chairs....


How about gigantic shoes? Wow! and I thought my feet were big

Sooooo much going on...

Late April to the end of May makes me CRAZY!!!!
I feel like even if I had a personal assistant who told me where to be and when I still couldn't remember it all.
But the good news is once a few more things end I'll be back to normal...

Zane, Kaylee and Trent have just started swim team. They practice every day after school. At different times of course. And I really hoped Mia would be able to particpate this year, so I signed she and Ty up for swim lessons. those occur at two different times twice a week.
Plus we have all our other regular activities
Awana, Tumbling, Boy Scouts, Tiger Scouts, Brownies, Pre-School, Band, Speech, Tutoring,Youth Group and your various birthday parties.....

Anyway, as you can see it has been very crazy around here.
I have pictures of the swim lessons. (Which are going very well by the way) Even though the lessons are going well Mia is still not ready for swim team. The kids have to be able to swim across the pool without assitance and she REALLY likes assistance. So, we'll have to wait until next year. Fear plays a big part in her reluctance to swim but we are seeing her become more and more confident each time. Ty on the other hand has no fear but we have to remind him to come up for air. He seems to possess a very large lung volume.
Last weekend I attended my semi-annual scrapbooking retreat. I always have such a great time. It's fun to relax, scrapbook, talk and just hang out. My friend Robyn always does such a good job of coordinating the event. It's really nice for me, because usually I'm the one organizing events. I love just showing up. Robyn also just started a blog. During the retreat Mechiel (pestered)Robyn, I mean encouraged Robyn to start something on the web. We are all so excited because Robyn always has the best stories....

More later...