Merry Christmas

We have had a wonderful Christmas this year. I hope you and your family had a special day too. I think the kids are at an amazing age right now to really love this holiday and all that it brings. They believe!, and were very excited for Santa's visit and waking up to a pile of presents under the tree. They also know the real reason for the season, and we talk all the time about who's birthday it really is and why we celebrate. Nate asked how old Jesus was, 2,013 years old, what!?

We are trying to make the most of this time with the kids, we are doing some really fun things this week and enjoy our family time.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. Here are a few of my favorite pictures so far from this summer. We have so much to be thankful for!

Ditto on this, why i won't buy Unicef holiday cards

I came across this article a few months ago and completely agree with the idea of staying away from Unicef holiday cards. As an adoptive parent I feel it is my right and responsibility to educate others about Unicef's unacceptable treatment of orphans. The writer says it better than I ever could so I am reposting her article!

NEW YORK, December 5, 2011 — UNICEF holiday greeting cards have been an iconic symbol of the spirit of the holidays since 1949.
Ubiquitous during the holiday season, you can buy them on UNICEF’s own website, or at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles and many other major retailers.
And who can resist images like cute multicultural cadre of kids, smiling and holding hands as they circle the globe? Who can’t get behind the idea of children from all nations coming together across borders, showing the one-ness of the human race?
Well, actually UNICEF can’t.  It has declared national borders sacred; country of origin rigidly defining.  Sadly, all that’s left of UNICEF’s “we are one people, one world” message is what’s found in a twelve-buck box of paper cards.
To sell their charming assortment of holiday cards, UNICEF writes “When you send UNICEF Christmas greeting cards and holiday cards, you help bring hope, health and happiness to children around the world.”
They should have disclaimer at the end, specifying “just not to orphans.”
UNICEF has been very successful in marketing its cards to unsuspecting Americans, who do not know about its stance against the world’s orphans finding permanent families in the U.S.  In fact, UNICEF rakes in about $16.8 million from sales of cards and related products, according to a United Nations report for 2010.
In recent years, UNICEF has taken a radical position against orphans, insisting that life in the country of birth is always preferable than life with an adoptive family in another country even when that means children are condemned to orphanages.  So much for those handholding holiday cards.  Good-bye, one-ness.  Hello, border patrol.
Their tagline is “Shop for a cause and help children in need.”  While no one can argue with the fact that UNICEF does work to improve living conditions for some children in need, their assistance goes to those who already have families.  Those without, not so much.
Until UNICEF’s campaign against inter-country adoption is stopped, I won’t be buying their greeting cards, and I urge everyone who is concerned about the world’s orphans not to buy them either.  And, as delightful as the cards may look on my mantle, when I receive a UNICEF card I will not keep it in my house.  In fact, I’ll take it as an opportunity to educate the sender about how UNICEF has chosen to turn its back on parentless children again this holiday season.
This year, if the spirit moves you to send holiday cards that will make a difference, there are many other alternatives to supporting UNICEF, which has lost its moral compass and has turned orphans into collateral damage in service of a political agenda.
Instead, choose an organization that champions a cause you believe in, that has a positive impact on the world.  For one of the best places to find a huge selection of beautiful holiday cards that support worthy organizations, go to http://www.cardsthatgive.org.


Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/red-thread-adoptive-family-forum/2011/dec/5/why-i-wont-buy-unicef-holiday-cards/#ixzz2k0Jsc88F
Follow us: @wtcommunities on Twitter

Halloween

It was an amazing Halloween this year. All three kids were totally into the holiday and wanted to get dressed up and go trick or treating. We went to many different events this year; a fall pumpkin festival at a local farm, a community Halloween event with vendors and trick or treating and a truck or treat event at a local church. They dressed up for school and each had a school parade in the morning. Then we finally went out trick or treating on Halloween evening. The kids got full use of their costumes this year.

Each was very specific in what they wanted to dress up as for the holiday. Nate, as usual, changed his mind several times, fireman, armadillo, transformer fireman, and policeman. We decided on policeman because he really wanted to have the handcuffs (and put us in jail). Paige and Phoebe were very sure of their decisions, Paige wanted to be Doc McStuffins and Phoebe wanted to be a Princess in PINK of course. Thankfully, I was able to find each of their requests!

Halloween night they came home with so much candy, we overflowith. the kids don't eat candy, so this year we bought lots of small items and set up a chuck E- che*se like store and the kids used their candy as currency to purchase what they wanted. It was so much fun to come home and do this after a long night of working for their candy.

Also, happy birthday to my sister! Born on Halloween day!

 

 

Autumn Moon Festival

The kids had a wonderful Chinese moon festival celebration this year. We went to a community festival and watched dancers, singers and artist from many Asian countries preform on stage. We got to enjoy some amazing food and had a great time celebrating. Then we went to dinner with other families with adopted children and had a great meal at a Chinese restaurant. We enjoyed moon cakes, the kids got dressed up in their festival clothes and celebrated with friends.

Back to school

The kids had a great first day back to school. Nate started Kindergarten and the girls go 2 days a week to preschool. They were all very excited to wear their new clothes and bring their back packs and lunch bags to school. Things are going so well and they are all learning so much.

Paige is very much into purple, as you can see, and Phoebe likes pink and black. Nate just wanted to be cool and wear a fun shirt.

Also, happy 11-12-13 day!

July Holiday

We had a great July 4th holiday. the kids participated in a bike parade. it's the kick off to the events in our town and all the kids usually (but we didn't) decorate their bikes and then ride around in a big group around the big lake. We did it last year too, but the girls were only 2 years old and couldn't ride their tricycles all the way around the lake. This year they did great, they dressed up in their red, white and blue and rode their bikes around the entire lake, they were the last ones to finish but they did it!

The girls won a trophy for doing such a great job. I think we were all in a bit of shock, they hadn't even decorated their bikes this year but they won, probably on cuteness alone:). They were so proud, they both loved holding the trophy and each commented that they could be like Nate, because he has trophies in his room from the sports he plays and now they would have one too.

The rest of the evening was great, a little bit of dinner from the food trucks, walking around visiting vendors and listening to live music. We all had a great night. We watched the fireworks from our house and then the kids went to bed. here are few pictures from our day. hope you all had a great holiday too.

Family Vacation

We went on our first family vacation this summer.  We haven't been on a big trip since we went to China a little over two years ago. We have been trying for some time to get up to see some family, especially my great aunt who is in her late 80's. Finally we had the time and finances to do so. We flew up and landed in NYC. The kids did great on the flight, all were very excited.  We were thankfully it was only a 2 hour flight instead of 20+ hour car ride. We spent a half day in the big city; the kids had fun at the American Museum of natural history. They loved seeing all the dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, and the giant whale. We spent several hours there just roaming around having fun. Drove thru central park, then we went to FAO Swartz toy store. Ended our tour with a drive thru Times Square.

We had a fun time showing the kids all the places P and I enjoyed while we lived there. We showed them our colleges, where we met, where I grew up, the house I lived in and my high school. They weren't totally interested but it was great for P and I to reminisce. We celebrated our 20th anniversary just before we left too. Of course Nate loved staying in the hotel and the free breakfast was probably his favorite. Here are a few pictures of our trip.

Phoebe and Paige got to sit in the captains chair of the plane

nate at the museum, his favorite dino

paige

phoebe found a panda and was very excited

the giant whale

 

Phoebe

 

 

 

We went to a family picnic and the kids got to meet their cousins. They were so excited to meet them and they had a great time playing and hanging out with them. It was cold and rainy so no swimming in their pool but they got to play ball in the front yard, eat good food and eat cake. :)

 

 

 

 

Wanted to share

Just found this awesome site and wanted to share it with those few that are still following.:) It's called esalon and it's a new way to do hair color. I have read that many salon owners are a little upset at this site and what it offers because  the color is blended for your hair alone, the same as a salon would do.

You go to the site and answer a few questions about yourself, what is your natural color, what color you like to use when you color your hair and how often. it makes a profile and you are ready to order your color just like that. the best part is that for $19.95 there is a colorist that will review your info,  answer questions you want to ask now, they blend your color (put your name on the bottle):) and ship it to your home. No more going to the store and standing in the hair color aisle to choose your color. The colorist are also available for questions if you have any when you start the process.

I know, the price is a bit higher than the boxes you buy in the stores, but here is the best part, if you click on the link below you can get your first order for $9.95 with money back guarantee!

Happy coloring!
click here for special offer

Staycation and summer vacation

In April we took a 2 day stay-cation to a local hotel. We all had been sick with colds and the flu a few weeks before and we needed a fun weekend to just relax and chill at the pool. We surprised the kids by picking them up from school and going straight to the hotel, they were completely in shock and then completely excited.

We stayed at a 2 bedroom, 2 bath with kitchen hotel and it had a GREAT pool. Even thou we were close to a lot of fun places to visit we pretty much stayed close to the hotel and used the pool. the kids had a blast and Nate talked about the hotel for weeks afterwards. He loves to stay in hotels and he told everyone about our stay and the fun he had.

our hotel room

 

the pool area

wearing new goggles at restaurant

visited a large mcD's game area and restaurant

 We have had a great summer so far, we have been keeping the kids really busy. This summer Nate will be attending 3 VBS and 2 summer camps. He is having a blast and loves so much to learn the new songs and do the crafts at the VBS programs. The girls have gone to 1 VBS and 1 summer camp. They are still a little young and most churches don't provide much for their age group. Nate also started swim lessons and is loving the water and learning to swim. We take him and his sisters to the pool on the weekends now to practice. The girls have started ballet/creative dance lessons and really love the class. They are adorable in their leotards and ballet shoes. We went on our first family vacation, (another post about that) and we had a great July 4th (another post about that coming soon). The kids have about 1 more month left before going to school and they are very excited about starting school.

first class

practicing some moves

love to go to this restaurant

 

 

Have a great trip

A good friend of mine will be traveling to China this week to adopt her baby girl, Chloe. I am so excited to see Katie and her husband Nick travel to Henan China to meet their little girl. Talking with Katie has brought back so many great memories of our trip. We loved traveling there and enjoyed the country, the sightseeing and the people so much. I know that Katie and Nick are going to have a wonderful trip and their two boys are going to be great big brothers. Can't wait to meet Chloe!

It has been over two years since we traveled to China. So much has changed since then. Our Log in date was May 19, 2006 and we waited almost 5 years to travel to our daughters. Currently they have matched families with LIDs up to Oct 26, 2006. It's taken them over 2.5 years to match 5 months worth of families to Non-special needs babies. I think the wait is  6.5 years to adopt a baby, and the wait time is only getting longer. Sending all those still waiting a big hug, it must be so difficult and seem never ending.

Happy New Year

Wishing you all a Happy Chinese New Year. We have lots of plans for this weekend. The kids are having a great time. Hope you have a great weekend too!

Ikea mudroom bench

New Update and changes to mud room: April 2014
From the very beginning of purchasing our house i have been planning to put a bench in our mudroom/laundry room. This room was large enough to do so, and the builder had put a key drop table that was too high and just at the right height for my children to ram their heads into the pointy corner.

We got a quote from Lowes for a custom built unit and the total was nearly $3,000 (insert gasp here)! We considered building the entire thing from scratch, the bench and upper cabinet. I have seen many pictures of people doing this, however it scared us a little because we probably didn't have all the tools it took to make that happen.

I found a few pieces at different stores that i liked but the prices  and sizes weren't right. Pottery Barn had a great bench and coat rack but the price for both was nearly $600. I found one at Pier One that was really great but it was way too small for the space we had to fill. The wall we wanted to put this on was 60" long.

Pottery Barn $600 for both and only 50" wide

pier one $399 and only 32" wide

I finally found a bench at ikea that was made as a TV stand but would work great as a bench, it also had a matching top cabinet. the bench is Hemnes, reg $199 we got it for $130 with ikea family card. the top part is Hemnes wall/bridging shelf, $120.

Here is what the area looked like before we started. Just a large key drop table.

 

 

I think the whole thing cost us $500, including one gallon of semi-gloss paint to make clean ups easier $30, the wainscoting, $40, a special saw for cutting wainscoting for plugs and outlets, $99, wood for behind the coat hooks, $25, the 5 coat hooks $20, the 3 corbels, $20, some corner moldings that we haven't put up yet, $20, and a few bucks for some glue and nails. The baskets i already had.

So here is what we have so far. It is the main place when we enter from the garage where all our things get dumped; shoes, book bags and jackets. We plan on lowering the bench a little, the kids have a harder time getting on it right now. i also plan on making a cushion for the bench and hanging a key and mail basket. I love that the bottom bench has drawers, none of the other options we looked at had this! I can't wait to add some color with the cushion i am making.

 

New Update and changes to mud room: April 2014