We're still here :-)

Wow, I never thought I would EVER have to apologize for NOT blogging!!! I love this platform of journaling, and keeping in touch with friends. But oh boy, the last two weeks have just kind of gotten away from me. And then the longer you wait, the harder it is to get going again, because now I don't even know where to start!!!!
First I would like to mention some of my fellow Blogging friends who could use your prayers:
Kim and her family are currently in China, adopting their daughter Josie. Following their journey makes me want to go back to China! What an interesting country, what a DIFFERENT country. It always amazes me how well Nina has adjusted to our Swiss-American lifestyle, when all she knew for 3 1/2 years was her chinese one. Amazing. But I'm totally off the subject now...
Another family that I would like you to pray for is our dear travel group friends Melissa and Chad. We really enjoyed hanging out with them in Guangzhou last summer! You can read about their situation on their Blog...
I have talked about Linda's family before. One of her little girls, Ruthie, had surgery last week, and I know they appreciate all the prayers as well!

So - what has been up with all of us...

Elia had his Kindergarten screening last week, and passed with flying colors. I can't believe he will start Kindergarten in the Fall! Nina gets kind of cranky when her siblings get to do things she can't, as she does not realize yet that her turn will come too :-)). The speech pathologist testing him told me a funny little story about him. She told him a short story, and asked him to re-tell it back to her. He answered: "I already did - in my head!". It boiled down to him not remembering the beginning, so I guess he decided trying to weasel out of this one! He is so funny!
Lego-mania continues on at our house, but I recently moved them ALL into our basement, where they are not distracting Nico from his school work quite as much. That has been working so much better!
I am ready for this school year to be over.... and it's only March! Next week we will have Spring break, and I'm soooo looking forward to that. No getting up on time, eating on time, hurrying not to miss the bus, and all that. We will try to go skiing sometime next week - pray that I don't blow another tire and waste our fun-money again!!!
Anya is finishing Ice Skating this week, and Nico and Elia finished swimming yesterday. We'll have a two week break from that. They have really liked swimming, and have learned SO MUCH!! Nico's teacher said that she never had a child learn the butterfly as quickly as Nico has! He really, really didn't want to take swimming lessons, but now he loves it!
Soccer will be starting at the end of the month, and this is something we all enjoy! Nina will play too, although I foresee lots of boohooo-ing at the sidelines from her. She played with Alex the other day, and she cried and pouted most of the time, as the ball was HER'S!!!! (Or so she thought!) I think the most important thing is that she feels like she is a part of it too. Same practices, team shirt, and all that. I don't worry about anything else at this point, as we had the EXACT same situation 5 years ago when Anya started. She doesn't like to be reminded of her rather un-glorious start into the world of soccer. This was a cute little conversation she had with Grandma back then:
Grandma: "Anya, why are you not playing?"
Anya: "Daddy said, if I cried one more time, I could not play anymore. So I cried one more time!"
And now she is on the traveling soccer team, and a very talented, quick midfielder, and LOVING it! Mike will coach both the little kids' and Nico's team this spring, so we will be living at the soccer fields ;-))
With me being so athletically challenged (and I'm really not kidding!), it's nice to see that our kids must have inherited their abilities from their Daddy!! We try not to do too much, but it's good for them to be active, I think. Even if each of the kids is doing only ONE thing, it will keep us plenty busy :-)

Nina continues with her "rebellious phase", and her defiance at times is exhausting. Like I said earlier, I believe that it's a good thing for her to go through this, but oh, boy....
It's hard to pick the battles, because sometimes I find myself just wanting to win them ALL. And they are not all important right now. I think this phase is definitely marking the end of the "honeymoon" phase of her adoption - now it's down to the true basics, and our relationship is being tried on a deeper level. Sometimes parenting is all about fun and laughter, and sometimes it's all about commitment and sticking it out, doing what is right. Those are not the glorious moments to blog about, but are soo part of life and parenting.
Don't get me wrong - we have wonderful times with our little girl, too. She is generally happy, and her giggles are just the best. She loves to do crafts, and colors all the time. The other day she said: "Daddy is my best friend!". That was so sweet to hear!

Can you believe that I don't even have any new pictures???? I know, what an awful thing! I have one - no idea who took it, but it's pretty funny!! So, I'll leave you with that, and hope you have a great day today!