Time to jump in...

Brand new, green turtle towel...... check.
Last year's still fitting Strawberry Shortcake swimming suit.... check.
Not THE red backpack, but another acceptable bag.... check.
Goggles... check.

Yep, Nina's first swimming lesson was today. Now she has really enjoyed going to the swimming pool, but is usually quite attached to me while in the water. I have been slowly getting her to be more independent and confident in the water, but letting her hop in on her own, was a little bit uncomfortable for both of us.
She was waving at me from the steps, like she was trying to say "Please, Mama, come with me...."
Ahhh, the pains of independence and growing up.
I am protective of her, she still seems so vulnerable at times, and it just hurts to let her go, by herself, into the big, bad world....

Okay, I'm slowly coming back down to reality. She is NOT GOING TO COLLEGE YET, allright????
It was SWIMMING LESSONS!
THIRTY minutes!

Okay, okay, but it was still hard! And I'm sticking to my story!

Nina did okay. She was quite hesitant, but since she has been watching her brothers for a while now, and is comfortable with the swimming instructor, it really did go okay. So now she will be swimming twice a week, and I'm expecting to see her blossom. The teacher the kids have is truly amazing, and these kids swim like it's no ones business.

Sorry, no pictures, I'll try to remember to bring the camera on Wednesday.

Demise on Day 11

Well, I'm sad to say that one of our triops just died. I seriously don't know what we did wrong this time, as I have been very careful with the water changes :-))).
I guess if Terry keeps on living, it was Toby's "problem", and not mine, so we will see. The kids are not too upset this time, I guess we know now that they don't live all that long.

Her comes the pet-shop princess!

I finally have some new pictures of Miss Nina! She is quite a Diva, isn't she??

For her birthday, she received a couple of duplicate gifts that I was able to exchange for some new dress-up accessories - the pink princess cape (or would you call it a royal robe instead of a cape??? Hmmmm, that DOES sound more girly...) and her sparkly slippers.

She put it all on this morning, and of course looked absolutely adorable!

She was not too excited about posing for a few flicks, as all the little petshop toys were calling her name, waiting to be played with.

She got a bit frustrated with her little charges :-)), as you can see in the video below....

And then, of course, big brother could not resist teasing little sister *sigh*. They love to get a rise out of her, because she WILL, every time. Now the video ends on a dramatic note, but take my word for it, the tears of frustration lasted about as long as it took me to turn off the camera. No child was harmed in the making of this movie.... :-))

Just a quick note regarding my camera, that Tami asked about - I have a very simple point-and-shoot digital camera (Nikon coolpix 5600), that is so so so slow when I use the flash, but I usually have a few pictures that turn out okay. I see a Canon Rebel in my future, but not in my immediate future :-))

First soccer practice

Last week the kids had their first soccer practices. Alex, Elia, and Nina are on the same team, and Mike is coaching. Nina did much better than I would have expected, and was a happy girl throughout practice. They have their first game on Tuesday, so we'll see how that goes :-)

We have had so much fun with this....

Nina's friend Susu's Mom Amy (go that??) sent me this link a few days ago, and it has been an instant hit at our house.
It's so funny because Anya LOVES the original song by Carrie Underwood (Jesus take the wheel)....
So, without further to do - here is "Cletus take the Reel"....

Once we watched this video about 20 times, we ventured intoTim Hawkin's other clips, and they are equally funny!
Here are a couple of our favorites:



Another one is very funny, too, it's called "Tim Hawkins on church", but out of respect for the religious groups mentioned in the first part, I won't directly link it. The second part of it, though, is HILARIOUS!

Easter pictures

Welcome to a freezy-breezy Wyoming Easter! Brrrrr - more snow and ice last night, so the kids were not too excited about posing for an Easter picture :-))))

Hunting for their Easter nests and Easter eggs - a mix of traditions from the US and Switzerland. Most of their Easter treats were sent to them from my Mom! Danke, Mueti!

Daddy and his girls!

A little bit of snuggle time with Daddy!

And going in for the smooch! How sweet is that!

Elia was a happy camper

The youngest two hanging out on the couch with their loot

Easter dinner! The kids love our annual Bread-Bunny!

Easter preparations - our favorite part!

I received this recipe from a friend here in town, and as I'm always looking for new and meaningful traditions to add to "US", this surely was a winner.

(the red additions are my comments)

Resurrection Day Story Cookies

(To be made the evening before Easter)

You  need:
1 cup whole  pecans (we used 1/2 pecans, and 1/2 almonds)
1 tsp.  Vinegar
3 egg  whites
Pinch  salt
1 cup  sugar
Zipper  baggie
Wooden  spoon (totally get that point now, after a couple of the kids got whacked with the metal ones!)
Tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300  degrees (this is important-don't wait until you're half done with the  recipe)!

( I think, next year I will try 350 degrees - it seemed like it could have used just a little bit more heat)

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with  the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus  was arrested.He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. Vinegar  into mixing bowl.
Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was  given vinegar to drink.
Read John  19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that  Jesus gave His life to give us life.
Read  John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them  taste it and
brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the  salty
tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own  sin.
Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the  ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1cup sugar.
Explain t hat the  sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because
He loves us. He wants  us to know and belong to Him.
Read Ps. 34:8 and  John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until  stiff peaks
are formed. Explain that the color white represents --in God's  eyes --  
the purity of  those whose sins have been cleansed by  Jesus.
Read Isaiah 1:18 and John  3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper-covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where  Jesus' body was laid.
Read Matt.  27:57-60.
Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the  oven
OFF.  Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.  Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed.
Read  Matt. 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the  cookies in the oven overnight. (They did!) Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.
Read John 16:20 and 22.

On  Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked  surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! (That caused quite a stir! And lots of "Why?"'s)
On the first  Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and  empty.
Read Matt. 28:1-9

The following picture was not part of the recipe, but everyone's favorite part anyway!!

Easter preparations, Part 1

This year, our Easter preparations were all kind of last-minute. Although the kids were out of school all week, we did not get any decorations up, let alone dye Easter eggs until Saturday.

Nina was so excited about all the activities, and I'm sure this was her first Easter celebration. Don't worry, baby girl, there will be many more to come!

I had purchased this egg dye kit a few years ago, and never used it - boy do I know why! It was a MESS! Oil based dye everywhere, sparkles everywhere..... *sigh*. Do NOT recommend oil based dye at all! The funny thing is - I'm the one that frets over stuff like that - the kids who helped had a blast, and Nina loved to be the "sprinkler of the sparkles" - she is such a sparkly kind of girl! They don't even care that their hands still look like they haven't washed them in weeks :-)))).

Anyway, here is the finished products, and with a slight grumble I have to admit that the eggs turned out rather charming....

I lift my eyes up to the hills.... where does my help come from?

... My help comes from the Lord, the maker of the universe....

You can just FEEL the truth of this verse when you're up in the mountains...

*****

Yeah, we finally did it! We went skiing yesterday ~ and it was so fun. Well, for the most part...

We did not get to the ski area until after 11am, and then it was the rental mayhem that took quite some time,  so we did not get out into the snow until noon.

That's when it got tough. 

Nico and Anya had skied or snowboarded once before (Nico twice), so they were adamant about going on the lift right away, which was just not gonna work.... as we had three hot, cranky, fit-throwing and in-the-snow laying 4, 5, and 7 year olds (there are no pictures of that part of the day :-) )

Mike was about ready to head back home at that time :-)

We looked at each other, and said: Where is Big'e Anja when we REALLY NEED HER?????

Thank goodness we had decided at the last minute, to sign up the three older ones for lessons, otherwise I believe the afternoon would have turned ugly quickly.... but the lessons were definitely the best investment we made!

Once Anya, Nico, and Alex went to their lessons, we could focus on Elia and Nina. We pulled them up on a little hill, and they both caught on very quickly. Nina was quite a natural, doing the snowplow and figuring out the edges. Elia just wanted to go FAST, caring less about the technical details. But both of them ended up skiing by themselves after a while, which we were very impressed with. By the time they were tired, the lessons were over, and I had a chance to ski with Anya and Nico for a while. Well, Nico snowboarded, and he likes that much better, and he is learning! Anya did very well for only having skiied  twice, and I ended up taking her up on the bigger hill, and she did great!

Alex was all smiles after his lesson was over, too. Although he doesn't have the leg strength to do the snowplow, he did great once we put the little tip-connector thingies on his skies that we were had borrowed from our neighbors (as well as Nina's skies, and my skies! - Thanks, Pat and Jean!).

Anya and I were the last ones coming down from the mountain, and we were tired. 

And sore today!

What a great way to spend the day outside, up in the beautiful creation of our God, enjoying the snow, the sun, the wind. 

And today piles of laundry are waiting, and that's okay too!

Another benefit.... we already know what to get the kids for Christmas!! Yeah!

We also had the privilege of meeting another adoptive family, who adopted their daughter from Korea, and are now in the process of adopting a Waiting Child from China. It's so fun how there is an instant connection to other adoptive families! 

Here are some pictures of the gang!

Elia cruising down the hill

Nina and her Mama-lift

Getting ready to go down

Nico, the happy snowboarder (not having enough room under  his helmet for all that hair! )

I have flashbacks when I look at this picture! I had a green snowsuit when I was in 1st or 2nd grade, and I have pictures of me in the same snowplow pose than Anya! So funny!

Alex and his ski instructor

Welcome to the family, Terry and Toby!

If you are looking for a GREAT science project with your kids, then grow some TRIOPS!
What in all the world ARE triops, you may wonder....

Well, here is what I have learned on this site:

Triops are crustaceans that look like miniature horseshoe crabs. Larger members of the crustacean family include crabs and lobsters. Smaller members are brine shrimp, fairy shrimp, and Daphnia. Triops have a relatively short lifespan of 20 to 90 days and grow quickly to their adult length of one to three inches. How large they grow depends on the amount of light and food they receive. After hatching, they often double in size daily!The bright colors of the Triops are due to hemoglobin in the blood and a dark blue-green pigment in the connective tissue. They are called branchiopods (gill foot) because they obtain oxygen from the water through their feet. The young quickly move through several larval stages, molting their exoskeletons each time. Adults can complete their life cycle in less than 30 days. Triops are usually in constant motion and have entertaining feeding and breathing patterns that include amazing acrobatics and upside-down swimming. While swimming on their backs, Triops are able to sweep food into their mouth by using their many legs.

We tried to "raise" triops before, and out of all the eggs, one hatched. He did fine until - well, I decided I was going to change his water MY way.

The next morning came - no more triop. Bad Mama!

I promised them another kit. We were able to buy them at the Hobby Lobby (LOOOOOVE that place!) for under $4. Well, today, the proud little Mom's and Dad's are happy to announce the arrival of Terry and Toby - we're hoping that there will be more by the morning, as we have some girl's names in store yet ;-))

Let me tell you - these little creatures are perfect little pets for several reasons:

1. They only live a few weeks.
2. You can literally watch them grow. Tonight they are tiny little specks (1/8 of an inch at the most), and they double in size for the first few days. Really cool!
3. The kit has all the food included. And VERY detailed instruction, that need to be followed *ha*.
4. All you need is Spring water and a lamp and a bowl. Very easy!

Of course I will keep you updated on Terry and Toby's progress :-))))

That was scary...

I'm not an over-cautious parent (except when it comes to water, THAT freaks me out!). And I have done things with my kids that in retrospect I would not do again. If your baby puts rocks in his mouth, give him one big enough to gnaw on, so he won't choke on it (right, Andi??? LOL - that was an inside joke, in case you're wondering).  I dislike all the warning signs on every product I buy, because I KNOW that if I climb on a ladder, there is a chance I might fall off.... no need to tell me :-)))

BUT - nothing really, really bad has ever happened to any of our kids - except for Elia's bleacher and skull fracture incident, but even that turned out okay, as super scary it was at that time.

I believe wholeheartedly that the Lord watches out over my kiddos, and so much of parenting is trusting...

The following incident though made even MY alarm go off....

Nina has this cute shirt, actually a hand-me-down from big sister Anya. 

Now Nina is notorious with strings.... she loves to untie, tie, make lots and lots of knots in everything she can get her hands on.

When its time for her nap, she gets quite industrious before she actually goes to sleep. So the other day, she untied the string of this shirt, got it out of all the little loopholes, and had it TIED IN SEVERAL KNOTS AROUND HER NECK!! I about freaked out when I found her that way after her nap. How scary. Not to imagine what would have happened if she had tightened it too much. Needless to say, she got a very stern talking from her Mama, and she cried, thinking that she was in trouble. I assured her that I was not mad at all, but that this was VERY dangerous, and that she should NOT tie things around her neck. EVER!

So, my point is.... thank the Lord for keeping our children safe, but WATCH THOSE STRINGS!!

Another tag....

I have been tagged again - this time by Julie. We met Julie and Chad last summer in China when we adopted our daughters. Both of our daughters are Hunan girls, and Julie was such a lifesaver to us, as she had the antibiotics we so urgently needed for Nina. Plus - isn't Rowan ADORABLE???
Anyway, this time I just have to tell you 7 random (so, nothing weird this time *Ha*) things about me..... no old boyfriend stories this time either, sorry :-))

1. I'm actually a nurse, but shame on me - I never had my RN license transferred to a valid US license after we moved. I regret that now. It's so much harder to find a nursing job on the black market! JUST KIDDING!!! Well, the first part was true :-))
2. I was accused of stealing when I was maybe 10 or so. To this day, I don't particularly enjoy window shopping, as I always have this feeling that someone may think I'm stealing if I don't buy something! Time to get over it, right???
3. My feet stopped growing when I was about 13. I think I stopped all together shortly thereafter *LOL*
4. I LOVE Swiss Candy and Chocolate! Don't even get me started on Hershey Bars. Sorry!
5. I'm a procrastinator.
6. My favorite breakfast? Hot Chocolate milk (reg. milk with Nestle Quick) - really hot, with chunks of bread (homemade, preferably) soaked in it. Looooooooove it! One of my favorite comfort foods!
7. I'm a tree hugger :-)). I'm all for recycling, conserving and so on (and have the Birkenstocks to prove it!)) I really miss public transportation!

There you have it. Just what you always wanted to know about me, right???

I'm adding an "old" picture just for fun - this was during the summer of 2003, when we visited my family in Switzerland. These are our (then 4) kids, and my sister's 4 kids, all outfitted in Old Navy T-Shirts! From left to right: Alex, Anya, Nico holding Baby Elia, Moritz holding Baby Joel, Rico and Kaya. And yes, you're right, they are almost the same ages - Hanna and I were actually pregnant at the same time with three of our kids :-) Talk about a sisterly bond!

Here are the people I'm tagging:

• My very dear niece Dina
• My newest bloggin' friend Tami
• Travel buddy Melissa
• Mia's mom Sherri
• Another internet aquaintance, Tanja
  

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!