Something just HAD to happen....

...to that little Kindergartener :-))
Well, when the boys got off the bus this afternoon, there was no sign of Elia anywhere.
OH -OH!!!
Where was he? Nico and Alex said they saw him in the bus line. The bus driver even went to the back of the bus and checked for him everywhere. Nope, not there!
I called the school, and they called the bus garage, and they paged the other bus drivers, and they finally found him. Somehow he ended up getting on the wrong bus.
I have to say, I was not worried about him being on the wrong bus. He doesn't get scared very easily. What worried me is wondering if he just decided to walk home, maybe because he missed the bus??? I would so not be surprised if he'd pull something like that.
But in ended up being okay. The other bus driver brought him home at the end of his normal route, only about an hour later than anticipated.
And tonight, his eyes had that dangerous little sparkle in them when he proudly told Mike "Guess what, Daddy, I was on the wrong bus!"
Just pray for grace for that little boy.....

Salon Beauties

While the boys are at school, the girls get to do the fun things.... like getting haircuts and going to lunch with Daddy.

Nina really, really needed a haircut, and her hair is almost the same length now all the way around. Given how short it was 14 months ago, it is growing so fast (she cut off at least 2 inches in the back!) !

Anya wanted some layers in hers, and of course she is always beautiful (yep, I'm biased :-)) )

Just thought I'd share the new hairdo's...

One excited Kindergarten boy...

Elia has been bouncing off the wall from the moment he got up this morning.

FINALLY...

His day had come, when he would ride the bus to school, get his own lunchbox, and all those exciting things that he watched his siblings do for five years now. Yesterday was only orientation for one hour, and that's always such a letdown for the excited kids.

But today was the REAL DEAL!!

Just look at his eyes, and you'll see just HOW happy he is....

Whewww, made it!

First day of school is over!
I think everyone had a pretty good day, although Anya has been a little bit teary all day. I really, really hope that she will like being home for school, but I guess only time will tell *sigh*

Here are a few pictures of our day...

Elia at his Kindergarten orientation

This afternoon, we headed to the park, where Anya did a hands-on science project.

And then we did lots of "dressing up nature style", and building a sand castle.

'twas the night before school started....

... and the emotions are very mixed around here.
Nico feels "weird" going back to "regular" public school.
Anya wishes she could go back to "regular" public school (she chose to do the virtual school from home this year)
Alex is worried about finding his new classroom in the morning.
Elia is SUPER excited, eyes glowing kind of excited about starting Kindergarten tomorrow.
Nina had a complete meltdown at the school tonight (we brought supplies and met the teachers), worrying about preschool, and about who was going to be there for her and taking care of her, and was saying totally strange stuff like "but nobody is going to hold my legs", and "I'm going to get shots at my preschool" and sobbing her little eyes out. The whole madhouse atmosphere was obviously too much for her. I explained that at her school she could play and have fun and color and go on the playground and listen to stories, and that Mrs. Terrell was going to take good care of her. She calmed down some, but I sure do wonder how it's going to be next week when she starts.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to think about a new school year either. I'm glad to have a little bit more room to breathe during the day, and to have a little more structure again, but it's also sad to have the kids gone so much. I can't imagine my days without Elia, to be honest, and I really enjoyed having Nico home last year. This year will be a "girly year", and I think that will be really good for us, too!

We had a little before-school celebration with a yummy dessert before bedtime, the little boys got their hair cut (so did Daddy), their clothes are laid out, bread is baked for their lunchboxes, and they want waffles for breakfast, so the important stuff is squared away, right??
The Lord will be watching over my little warriors going out into the world tomorrow, and oh my gosh, I'm getting all teary now.....

Time to call it a post, I guess :-)

Tomorrow I will have beautiful NEW pictures, I promise!

The pictures below are from past "First days of school".

2003, and Nico's first day of KindergartenElia and Anya, the same year
2004, Anya's first day of Kindergarten, Nico in 1st grade
2005. Nico in 2nd grade, Anya in 1st grade
2006. Alex in Kindergarten, Anya in 2nd, Nico in 3rd grade.
2007. Alex in 1st, Anya in 3rd, Nico in 4th grade.

Please pray....

This story has made national news this morning....
Our former church here in town has always supported this ministry, and I have heard Pat Klein speak. It's AMAZING what he and his group have done, and how the Lord has protected them over and over again!
Please pray for their safety, and that these bibles will be returned to them, or bless SOMEONE, regardless!

So happy!

Better than Beijing (closer, anyway!)

We're enjoying the benefits of having a pyrotechnic guild convention in our town. All week long we will have firework displays that take your breath away: The newest, the coolest, the fanciest... you name it! Bonus #2: We can watch it from our yard!! Wohoo! And you guessed right: I had to find out how my new camera would fare with fireworks. I think the pictures turned out in a fun and imperfect way!

When distance is no longer...

The internet is an interesting thing.

I have "met" some wonderful people through this blog. People who share similar stories, and most of all, are adoptive parents like ourselves. It's this little "insider" connection, a wonderful support system, and so many of you have really made an impact in my life.
But it's also a "safe" way to connect with people, because you only know certain aspects of someone's life. You don't meet regularly, you don't get on anyone's nerves, and others don't even know your bad habits!
It's easy to be likeable and to like others.
And that's kind of nice, I admit!

This week, however, a wonderful family, and me and my three younger kids chose to step out of that comfortable "virtual friendship" zone and go on a "blind date" in the real world. It was a little nerve wracking and exciting at the same time....

It was wonderful!
You may know Linda from her Blog, and you may even remember our connection from this post.
We just had a very, very nice time together, shared a couple of delicious meals, and the kids hit it off and played nicely at the park and in their "infamous" backyard pool.
Thank you so much, Linda and Bob and girls for opening your house and your hearts to these almost complete strangers!
Until next time!

PS: No, we do NOT live THAT close. Nothing is close in our part of the country (except for Super WalMart *LOL*). Visiting Linda's family was a 2 day adventure, with driving time of close to 5 hours one way :-))

Forever and ever our kiddo...

Nina's readoption hearing was this morning.
We did NOT miss it *ha*...
It took the little girl a loooong time to decide what would be fancy enough to wear, and she finally decided on her brown skirt and a purple blouse she had not worn before (this child has way too many summer clothes!!). I fixed her hair to her liking, and even bought her a dozen roses. She felt very lady-like!!

The future of this blog

It's been just a little over 2 years ago since we started the journey to find our daughter.
Wow, 2 years.
I cannot imagine our family WITHOUT Nina anymore. Sometimes when people give me those curious "hmmm, why does this lady have an asian child?"glances, it strikes me as odd, just because I don't see her as THAT different anymore. Of course I'm aware that she looks nothing like me, but it so doesn't matter to me. She is my daughter. End of story.

We have done all the official steps, and tomorrow our state will recognize Nina as its "own" as well. I have been talking with her about what's happening tomorrow, and the most important thing to her is that she gets to wear something "fancy" (what more can a girl wish for :-)) ).
I told her that we will be going to the big building across the street from Daddy's office, and that they will tell us that Nina Gabriella FuBo is our kiddo forever and ever and ever! She really likes that too....

With this last requirement also comes another milestone...

I will be closing this blog pretty soon, as it has had Nina's adoption as its focus.

Don't despair...

I'm too hooked to the blogging world and love my bloggin' buddies, plus it's a great way to keep friends and family all over the world updated and "in our living room".
However, our new blog will be password protected, and anyone who would like to stay in touch through our blog, will need to get invited. How do you do that? You simply send me an email to wyochinagirl@gmail.com.

This new blog will not happen overnight, as I need to find someone who will come up with a cool Blog design (any suggestions??).
I also need a new NAME for the blog, and I would love to hear some fun ideas from you all!
If you know us personally, then I would just kindly ask you to refrain from any ideas that include our last name, or the city we live in, as I have been trying to protect the privacy of our family in this blog (more or less successful)

Off to bed I go, so I'll be ready to listen to the judge tomorrow, as he will remind us that Nina Gabriella FuBo is our kiddo forever and ever....

Another funny one...

This happened a few days ago....
I was sitting at my laptop, either feeding my blogging habit, or actually doing some "real work" - don't remember which one :-)
Anyway, Nina was sitting right next to me, and she kept asking me if I would play a game with her. Oh, now I remember, I think I was finishing writing an email. I had told her "just a minute" at least once already, but that statement ususally goes completely unnoticed. So after a few more "Mama, will you play this game with me?" in quick succession, and obviously getting frustrated with my lack of answering, she did the funniest little thing: She curved her little finger, tapped her knuckle on my cheek a couple of times and chirped: "Mamaaaa - knock, knock!!"

Sadest thing ever....

I'm going to be a little mean, but since Anya is going to camp today, and won't see it for a while, I'll post them....
Almost as soon as we got back from vacation, we had a family come and pick out one of our kittens. Well, they decided on getting the "snuggly one", which means it was Spooky, the girls' favorite.
Imagine the drama, and the pain in those sisters' little hearts. I know the kids had secretly hoped they could keep the kittens after all, but that was just not an option. I admit though, that Spooky was a cute little thing!
The pictures below were just too much ~ I assure you, Anya smiles at them now, too!
She is just a "feely" girl. Her emotions are always so intense, so real, so all-consuming. And while I love that about her, it also makes for incredible drama.
That Nina fell apart, too, surprised me a bit, but I'm thinking seeing her big adored sister be so sad had a lot to do with it!
Sweet daughters ~ I love you!

(By now, all kittens have found new homes)

Almost missed it!

We had started our re-adoption paperwork a few weeks ago.
Basically, the re-adoption doesn't really change anything, but it allows Nina to have a Wyoming Birth certificate. This will make things much easier for her down the road, as I don't want to imagine having to request a BC from China in 20 years or so. Nightmare in the making....
Anyway, when we signed all the forms needed, the gal at the law office (who is a Tastefully Simple client of mine) told us she would send us the stamped and signed forms in the mail, and then they would notify us of our court date.
Well, about a week or so ago I received an envelope from the law office, and since I ASSUMED it was just our copies of the forms, I never opened it.
Yesterday at the fair I ran into her, and she told me that someone different from their office was going to represent us at the court hearing. I looked at her and said: "Oh, so you have found out about a court date then?". She gave me THE look and answered with a gasp: "Did you not receive our letter?" I confessed I had but had not opened it (yet).....
She said that the court date was INCLUDED in that envelope.
AAAHHHHHHGGGGGGHHHH!
The only senile question I had left for her was asking if we had missed it aleady....
She assured me we hadn't.

Guess what?

It's on TUESDAY morning. In THREE days, and we almost missed it.
THAT would have been embarrassing!

But thank God HE knew we needed a gentle little reminder, and yes, I will post pictures of the last official milestone in our journey to Miss Nina....

I saw her, I saw her!!!

Okay, that was almost too ordinary.....

We attended the 4H sponsored pancake feed this morning, as they were setting up for Jesse James' stage nearby. I saw a dark haired lady walking around, and thought that it "may" just be Sandra. So I followed her (slick, huh!!).

It wasn't her.

But I ended up speaking with another bystander, and when I asked her if Sandra was here, too, she pointed to the playground and said calmly: "She is over there."

OVER THERE??? Are you KIDDING??

Armed with my best mothering skills, leaving my kids on their own, finishing their breakfast, I trotted over to the playground. Except, what do you really do at a playground if you don't have kids with you??

Yep, there she was.

Beautiful, but oh, so ordinary. Shorts, T-Shirt, no makeup, hair in a ponytail. Playing with her step-daughter. Doing what all Moms do.

Later on, she watched the local kids showing pigs. No one bothered her. Ordinary Wyoming people were sitting right by her, and acted as there was nothing special about her. I like that about the people here. Sure, we stare, we whisper, but we're very much leaving her alone. My friend got an autograph, but I was too chicken to approach her. Oh, well!

I witnessed a pretty cool exchange though. The local county Miss approached her (her Mom did) and asked for a picture. You know what she said?

"I don't take pictures today. Today it's all about my husband, and I'm just here as his wife. That's it."

Cool!

Well, I did take some pictures with my super zoom lens *haha*. I admit, they are
horrible pictures. But that's as courageous I got....

GUESS WHO IS IN TOWN!!!!!

You're never gonna guess!!!!

It's Fair time, and this year they really scored with a celebrity...
Well, it's actually her hubby who is the hired one, but I had no idea who he was (after all, did he not get shot a long time ago???)
Allright, I know you won't guess it....
SANDRA BULLOCK!!!!!!!
There have been several sightings of her yesterday and today, in very fancy and world famous places like Applebee's, Albertson's and Wal Mart (Do you think she EVER shops at WalMart???)

I'm so excited..... I really want to see her!!!!
Trust me, I will be toting my camera around tomorrow!!!!!
Gosh, I'm so glad I moved to Wyoming!!