Lily's Birthday

Lily's birthday surprise

It was Lily's 5th birthday on March 4th. When she woke up we surprised her with a couple of gifts. She got a Hannah Montana girlie kit with nail polish and glittery eye shadow and earring stickers, all the bling bling a girl could want. She also got a real 1/16th violin. Lily had been taking violin lessons Suzuki method but was very bored playing on a cardboard violin so we took some time off. John's hope is that the real violin making real music will increase her interest. So far that theory seems to be working as Lily plays her violin as soon as she gets up and she has mastered the rhythms that she was not getting with the cardboard version. Last night she was able to play while John accompanied her on the piano in a duet. Considering it was just the same note only different rhythms, it sounded pretty good. Now of course Luke is very interested in the violin as well and he is now playing the cardboard one when ever Lily plays the real one.
Lily will be having a birthday party next weekend out at the Sac River riding stables with some friends so her birthday really gets extended.

Lily did compete last Sunday in the Winter games and did very well. Daddy was able to shoot video of all four events and she ended up with two blue ribbons and two rainbow ribbons. She was very happy with her results and had a wonderful time with her gymnastic friends. We will be getting a disk with photos in the next couple of weeks. It will have all her action shots during the routines plus pictures of her team and a couple of poses of her alone.

The weather here has turned very warm and hopefully the kids and I will be outside enjoying some sunshine today.






Lily's birthday morning

Winter Games

Lily prepares for the Winter Games


Lily is inspired by Nastia after watching her performance


Lily meets Nastia up close and personal


The Springfield gymnastic team and Nastia

This past Friday night Lily got the chance of a lifetime, to meet Nastia Liukin, the all around gold medal gymnast from the Beijing Olympics. Springfield gymnastics hosted the Winter Games and was able to bring Nastia in for a performance. The girls from the Springfield gymnastics gym got to meet Nastia in a private room for autographs and pictures. Lily gave her one of the Chinese braids we have as a good luck charm. Saturday Nastia performed for the crowd. It was stunning. Lily was in awe. Afterwards she said she wanted to go home and put on her leotard so she could do the things Nastia did. Sunday afternoon Lily will be performing with the level one gymnasts. She is excited but a little scared. At this age, it is meant to be all about having fun.

Catching up

This year we went to three different Chinese New Year celebrations. One with International families of adoption, another at the Discovery Center and last but not least we were invited to participate in the MSU student celebration. There were about 250 Chinese students in attendance and Luke and Lily and Daddy performed on Chinese instruments and sang a song in Chinese. The kids do not seem to mind performing in front of a crowd, just give Lily a microphone and she is set.

Luke was extensively tested through the Springfield public schools to see if he qualified for preschool special services. Although the caseworker and other teachers felt many of his skills were in the emerging category (meaning he was progressing forward) they decided to give him a boost of special skills to prepare him for school ahead. He is receiving 1 hour of special education, 1 hour of speech therapy and 1/2 hour of OT per week. The really nice feature is that the teachers go to Luke's preschool to provide the services. We had originally thought we would hold Luke back a year before starting kindergarten. He turns 5 in April. The teachers have told us another option would be to send him to kindergarten and if necessary he can repeat kindergarten. We had not thought about this in the past as an option. We are taking the wait and see approach to make sure he is emotionally ready. The neighborhood elementary school does have three K classes so he and lily can be separated. His attention span has improved so much and he is now spelling the letters of his name and pointing out the letters as we drive down the road. It is hard to judge how far along he may be 6 months from now when school starts. He does tend to "zone out" as I call it, not really in the moment of things happening and it is my concern that he will miss important instructions during class. Once he has a concept though, it seems to stick with him well. We will just move forward and register both of them for school but can always decide right up until the last moment not to send Luke. I just wonder how he will feel if Lily gets to go and he does not.

Luke has started Taekwondo and I think it is very good for him. They really teach self control and following instructions and hold them to task if they do not follow through. The instructor is with them all the time guiding them through the moves. In gymnastics they showed the kids the skill one time and then left them off on their own to "practise". That just gave Luke the opportunity to run around the room. I like the fact that Taekwondo is different in that respect. Luke seems to really enjoy it as well.

We had a surprise visit from Aunt Susie this weekend. I knew she was coming of course but left it a surprise for the kids. We showed up together to pick up the kids from school on Friday. Luke saw her from the window and had his face pressed up against the glass when we made it upstairs. Lily was outside on the playground and let out a loud "Aunt Susie" when she looked up and saw her. The kids were showered with gifts for their upcoming birthdays and we hung out at home that night until we both fell asleep (Aunt Susie and I) watching Toy Story with the kids around 9pm. The kids of course were still wide awake! Aunt Susie had to leave the next morning to go down and visit our parents in Bella Vista. I had made several dishes and froze them for her to take to them. Since our Dad is doing all the cooking these days (and he does not cook) I figure some good homemade food is well appreciated.

Well, that pretty much catches up on the happenings around here. I'm working on the summer schedule of events for the kids and hopefully some family reunions with our adoption families around the country.

Chinese New Year 2009

The family that plays together.....

Luke strikes a pose

Logan and Lily cut up in the craft room

Lily and Jada ribbon dance


The past weekend was packed full of activities related to the Chinese New Year. On Saturday we attended the annual International Adoption Families party. Another mother and I created the table center pieces. She made beautiful lanterns out of paper complete with flickering tealights inside and I made firecrackers out of PVC pipe we had lying around. The kids had a great time. They started out in crafts then had some lunch (Springfield's version of Chinese food, not the authentic kind) and then the music began. John was in charge of lining up the entertainment and since many of his students studied the Fall semester under two Chinese music professors their skills were very good. The kids got to all join in with percussion instruments. Lily was thrilled to perform the ribbon dance with Hing Wah and Hing Wah was impressed that Lily could keep those long long ribbons up off the floor (since she is just shy of 40") The kids all joined in with kid sized ribbons and then crowded inside the belly of the dragon as he swerved and curved around the room. This was Luke's first year to attend and he loved every minute. I think our two kids were some of the very last to leave and then we had to drag them away.


On Sunday the Discovery Center hosted Chinese New Year entertainment and once again, John was in charge of the music. He had students posted around the facility playing and then he and the kids took up one post. Luke and Lily were much more interested in just playing on the exhibits at the center than to "park and bark" as musicians call it. John did get Lily to perform a solo singing one of the Chinese children's songs she knows. There was a great performance of the Lion dance.

There will be one more chance to wear our fancy Chinese clothes next weekend when the University Chinese community hosts a feast. They have invited us to attend as their guests and I'm sure Luke and Lily will perform if called upon. Lily is as comfortable with a microphone as she is with lip gloss.

Happy New Year 2009

Luke makes a New Year mask


Pretty Butterfly


Spiderman!

We put on many layers of clothes last night and headed downtown to First Night. The layers were due to the cold temperatures that have returned to our area. Many businesses participated in the event and once you purchased tickets all the venues were free. We spent most of our time at the YMCA standing in a long line for face painting. There was one painter and many many faces! The kids were determined so we stuck it out and the results were great. They had inflatables there as well that the kids enjoyed. We then went over to the Lander's theater to see the YES troop perform. The YES troop is a group of very talented high school kids who have spent many years perfecting their stage performances. Luke and Lily were both tired at the beginning of the show (9:30pm) but woke up when the dancing started and stayed awake until it was over an hour later. We headed home and didn't stay for the midnight fireworks. They are too young and John and I are too old. Happy New Year to everyone.

Christmas Travels

With only two days between trips it was a challenge to get the laundry done, go to work for two days and head out again, this time for North Carolina. We decided to drive all night on Tuesday. John was ready with plenty of Starbucks coffee to keep him awake on the journey. We had a rough ride the first couple of hours with ice and then heavy rain but the last half was pretty good. I can say that because I did not do any of the driving. I was able to actually read a novel with my little book light and finished it by dawn. Of course there were a few naps thrown in along the way.
Lily left earlier in the day with Aunt Kim and Michelle so we just had Luke and Logan. By 10pm after watching two movies they both drifted off for the rest of the ride. John was understandably tired by the end of the trip and had to catch up on a little sleep on Wednesday.
We spent Christmas eve at Mill Ridge with Grandma Prescott and her caretaker, Delta. The kids hung their stockings on the fireplace. The next morning we were back over at 7 so the kids could check out what Santa had delivered during the night. Their stockings held all kinds of treasures and Lily got a Barbie bride and Luke a drum set. After a traditional breakfast of ham biscuits it was time to open the family gifts. Luke was so excited to get a fireman costume and firetruck from Grandma while Lily got two High School musical dolls and a cheer leading costume.
By noon we were ready to make the two hour trip up to Aunt Valia and Uncle Rudy's house in Winston-Salem. Their two kids were there, Rick and Kay along with their families. We had a nice dinner and played our gift exchange game. The weather was unseasonably warm so the kids were able to play and run off some energy outside.
Back at Mill Ridge in the mountains the kids went tubing with Daddy, Aunt Kim and Michelle. I stayed back at the house to relax and begin the packing up process.
We had a nice meal out with Grandma and then it was time to say good-bye as we headed back home early on Saturday. The kids really enjoyed their Christmas time.

Christmas Joy

Aunt Valia's house in Winston-Salem North Carolina



Family gift exchange


Luke, Lily and cousin Christy


A bath not just for birds


A ride on cousin Ryan


Luke and Daddy tubing in the mountains


Logan and Lily tubing


Lily displays her gift from Santa


Luke plays with his drum set from Santa


Lily shows off her stocking at Mill Ridge