Boy, I'm on a roll! I think I'm out of my winter funk...finally!

Here is Ginger, the new addition to our family. She was a rescue dog my friend was fostering. Of course, the girls and Brian loved her, but I was hesitant. So, I agreed to let her come stay for a day to see how things would go. Well, she is now offically ours. She's a sweet dog, but getting through the puppy stage has been trying at times. Most of the Barbies don't have hands anymore, and keeping shoes away from her is a constant chore.



And then the school pictures:





And AnLi's first "cover" shot.
This is a picture from the summer of '08. NCH called and said they wanted to use her pic for the cover of their annual magazine and wanted to know what she wanted to be when she grew up. AnLi was SUPER excited to get the mail that day, and now thinks she's a "supermodel." It's amazing how much she's changed!


And finally... SPRING! Time to play outdoors with our friends.

Great Friends

At the beginning of March Jolene and Lily came to visit. We haven't seen each other since our short little get-together at the Orlando airport last April. The girls had a great time. We kept busy by doing the water park, the zoo and D*sney on Ice. Jolene and I were able to get out for dinner while Brian watched the girls. It's always great to see them and we don't get to do it often enough. Both of the girls had quite a few tears when they left. And AnLi has asked numerous times when she can see her "best friend" again. Hopefully soon!

Chinese New Year

It was FREEZING outside, but I wanted to get one shot in some light.


The lion dancers are like celebrities


Getting a coveted spot under the lion costume

Texas

At the end of January we made the 14-hour trip, by car, to see Nana and Papa who were snow birding in Texas. We thought we could escape the fridig temps, but we took them with us. Even though it was rainy and colder than we expected, it was nice to get away for a few days. We drove about eight hours the first leg, stopped early enough to enjoy the hotel swimming pool, then six hours the next day. The girls barely made a peep! They shocked us both. The only thing that was said about the long drive was about an hour from the cabin AnLi said, "I love you, but I can't take it any longer!"

The girls loved running down to the lake every day and collecting shells, feeding the ducks and fishing. One morning we toured a cavern. AnLi was totally into it. She asked questions and kept right up with the tour guide. Another rainy day we went bowling. It was really nice to get outside and get some fresh air between rainshowers. The girls were worn out early every night, and the adults stayed up and played Pegs & Jokers late into the night.

The girls running down to the lake.
The water level is so low. This whole area is supposed to be the lake.


The dock. Again, another example of low lake levels.
So while we weren't loving the rain, the locals were happy to have it.








Listening to the tour guide before going down into the cavern











Notice how they're squatting. :)






And then we came back to the frozen tundra and made a snowman.

Winter 2010

Boy, am I behind on posts. And have I heard about it from family and friends! I said I was soooo far behind I didn't even know where to start, so I'm just going to upload some pics from Christmas and our crazy, long, cold and snowy winter. I still have pics to upload from our trip to Texas, Chinese New Year, Lily and Jolene's visit and the exciting announcement of a new addition to the family.

Christmas at my mom's -















Unfortunately, I got sick around 4p on Christmas Eve, then both girls in the middle of the night. We were all awake around 6a, took showers and then opened gifts. I did not take one stinkin' picture. Thank goodness Brian and Frank had the videos rolling. I did get this picture of the girls and Brian sporting their new Iowa gear the next day, when everyone was feeling much better.


This has been the longest, snowiest and coldest winter EVER! At one point in January I figured up the girls had only been to preschool six days in seven weeks. We did get plenty of sledding done, which I think I loved as much as the girls.

Round 'em up

Today the girls had kindergarten roundup. How could they be old enough to go to kindergarten already? They were both super excited. AnLi changed her clothes three times before we left. Um, she's 5!! They each went to separate classrooms and did some art and had snacks while the parents stayed in the gym and listened to speakers and took a tour.

I can't believe the things they do in kindergarten! They don't even have chalkboards anymore. They use smart boards, where they also watch the school announcements every morning that are recorded live by third and fourth graders from a full TV studio suite. They have lockers, go to art, music and gym, computer lab and library. They have a fitness club that meets before school if they want to take walks or just do some exercising in the morning. They have a free breakfast every morning before school that they could partake in. I was talking to my sister and she was talking about her kindergarten teacher and I about mine, how we both remembered them so vividly all these years later. That first year of school can have such an impact on your life, so I hope they both really love it - as much as they did today.

They both had a GREAT time. This is the same school Carli goes to now, so she was right at home. She knows her way around and many of the teachers/staff already. AnLi wants to go to school there NOW! She doesn't understand she has seven months to wait.

I left my camera in the car, but we had to get a quick shot of them by the school, and only one since it was freezing out!


Afterwards we went to BK for lunch and some play time before preschool.
The two littles hamming it up for the camera.

Names

On New Year's Eve we saw the Squeakquel, and ever since then the girls have been performing some Chipette routines for us. AnLi has renamed herself Brittany (or Bertny as she says it), Carli is Eleanor and I'm Jeanette. She has us all do our hair the way they have theirs and we must each wear the respective color they don in the movie.

Eleanor in green - two ponies
Brittany in pink - one pony up high
Jeanette in blue - one very high pony


AnLi tells EVERYBODY her name is Brittany. She told them at school, at swimming, the store, anywhere we go. When we say goodnight, she reminds us that her name is Bertny and Carli is Eleanor.

Here they are with their band instruments, hair in the proper positions. AnLi did change into pink shortly after this.





One day when AnLi was supposed to be taking a nap, she came down in too small Chinese outfits. She couldn't reach the shirt that goes with the pants, so she got her size 2 winter jacket. She asks just about every day when their new Chinese dresses for Chinese New Year are coming. Hopefully they'll be here soon!


And back to the subject of names - We've been talking a lot about the girls' Chinese names. AnLi's is Li Xiao and Carli's is Wen Ye. We do know from our paperwork that they called AnLi Xiao Xiao, and we heard the nannies call her that on adoption day. We also always call Carli "Carli Jo Jo". We almost always say that. Yesterday AnLi decided that along with Brittany, she'd like to be called AnLi Jo Jo. I explained that Jo Jo was Carli's nickname, but maybe we could call her AnLi Xiao Xiao and she thought that was a good idea.
So now I'm not sure what I'm supposed to call her - Brittany or AnLi Xiao Xiao. LOL!
And next week it might be something else.

Saying Good-Bye

I have several posts to catch up, but need to start with this one. My grandpa, who was 97, passed away on January 9th. He lived a wonderfully long and great life. He's an example to all of us. Up until a couple of years ago he still walked a mile or two a day (around his car in the garage if it was cold out) and sat in his recliner and lifted weights (jars of rice). I have so many great memories of he and my grandma -too many to list. What it does make me realize again is that my kids will never have any memories of my dad, who passed away in 2002. Don't get me wrong, the girls are spoiled rotten by their two grandpas they have now, Papa and Grandpa Pat, and love every minute they get to spend with them, building lasting memories. But I just wish my dad could have met my two amazing little girls. He would have loved them and they would have adored him. He was amazing and I miss him every single day.



While it was a sad time, we did get to see some family whom we haven't see for years. The girls got to meet their second cousin Xander, a total cutie, and the girls had a great time playing with him and their cousins Kiya, Kyle and Sydney . Mom took us out for dinner one night and then Kolene had us all over the next night for dinner, and it was great to see all of the "big" kids and the littles enjoying the get-together and spending time with extended family.

Xander, Kyle, AnLi and Carli