Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Oh, the SLANG....

I'm not sure if this is funny or embarrassing....

Nina has acquired quite an array of slang words, some acceptable, and some.... well... let's call them borderline :-))

A few days ago, she pranced around the bathroom, doing a lot of hippety-hop because she waits so long to go that it often time ends up being a major crisis. Well, she had to change her undies after this particular time, and I talked to her about not waiting so long and bla bla.... She looked at me and said: "It's okay, Mama, just relax!"

That's one of the acceptable and funny ones...

She has been experimenting quite a bit with the word 'stupid', but is getting better at chosing a different one :-) But hey, we can make sure Mama knows when anybody ELSE is using it!!

Just now she is busy playing with Play-doh, and after much grunting she got her favorite purple Playdoh out of the can. She started kneading it, then muttered: "This is hard - son of a gun!"

Oh, the advantages of having older siblings......

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The Star Wars Creator.....

I'm SO IN TROUBLE with my oldest....
I have promised him to blog about his Lego creations, and I STILL have not done it. He is getting really cranky with me!
So, Nico, I think you are doing a GREAT job building Legos!!
I love his creativity, and even though he has a LONG wish list with new sets, he ususally builds the sets he really wants with pieces he already has. And I think that is so cool!!

Here is one of his favorite Star Wars Lego movies!! Hmmmm, it's probably safe to say that about 100 views were him :-)) Or any of his brothers, for that matter!
If you think it's only the boys who LOVE Star Wars, guess again. The girls do too, and even Nina talks about all the different characters.
*Sigh*
I just can't do it.
I know it's a huge deal, but I tried to suffer through one of the movies, and after about 1/2 hour, I just had to give up on the idea of ever understanding what they are talking about pretty much nonstop.
I'm even as far as answering the request for watching a movie with "as long as it's not Star Wars, or Clone Wars - yes!"
Allright, sorry, Nico, I'm getting a bit off track and worked up, here :-)))


The Lego Set "Slave 1" (Bobafett's ship) had been the object of his desire for quite some time (like forever - or so it seemed to me :-) ). The only problem was, it was a set that just got retired. And since kids are just like us grown-ups, if something is out of reach, it becomes even more so a MUST-HAVE!
After much searching we found one on EBay that was actually not much more than the original price had been, and lo and behold, we won the Auction!
Nico had been earning stickers for doing his schoolwork promptly and with a good attitude (which was a desperate measure by his Lego-ed out teacher!!!), and you should have seen him work once he was close, and his new Lego set had been delivered! One night he literally worked until 7pm!!
These first pictures are the set that he designed. To me, that's nothing short of amazing! He really studied this ship, and re-created even the smallest details!







The the day had finally come when he could play with his new set. His very nice teacher even gave him the afternoon off!
His ship goes pretty much everywhere with him. It even watched the kittens being born the other night! I think it liked it :-))


Nico has really been an inspiration to his siblings - and he is always helping them build something, too! They are learning so much from him! Of course his little Shadow (aka Elia) thinks his brother is the coolest guy EVER!!!
I hope I'm redeemed now. I'll have to run this post by the Master later on, and make sure he approves!!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

You're not going to believe this.....

It's almost midnight, and Midnight, our black kitty, is GIVING BIRTH as we speak!! I didn't think she was 'due' for at least another week, but I guess cats are as unpredictable as women *ha*.
This is way too tense for me to watch, so I thought I'd update the blog instead. I'm a wuss, I know!
Three have been born so far, all of them are black. She is cleaning up the third one right now!
Nico woke up, and is watching her too! We decided to wake Anya as well, and she was out of bed in a split-second after she heard the news! We figured that this was a unique experience for both of them, as this will be Midnight's only litter!
Oh, yeah, and GUESS where she is having her kittens..... ON MY BED!!!!! (That was NOT my choice, but by the time we found her, it was too late)
Thank goodness for a waterproof mattress pad!!!!
More tomorrow, and pictures, too!
*****
It is morning now, and I moved the Mama kitty off my bed and into her post-partum suite...(aka a very, very old suitcase!) - she was not too impressed with that, but I would really like to sleep in my own CLEAN bed tonight :-) . Needless to say, my bedding is in the wash, and I'm running a SANITIZING cycle on it!
The four little ones are doing well, lots of baby-miaowing going on.
Here is a quick video clip of last night's happenings.
Trust me, there WILL be more pictures, but Mama Midnight is a little leery of all the commotion this morning, and I'm trying to keep the kids away, as she clearly doesn't appreciate their presence.



Afternoon update:
Midnight is a good little Kitty-Mama, and the kittens are doing great. She lets the kids watch her and pet her now, but prefers it quiet. She went outside for the first time, and I seized the opportunity to get some kitten-only pictures. Usually they are all snuggled up to Midnight, and it's hard to really see them, since they're all black. They are SO SOFT!!!
Mike and I were talking about if this gives us a tiny little glimpse into our future as Grandparents.... :-))

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Please keep little Josie in your prayers!

This sweet little girl is Josie, who has been home with her family for only 4 weeks. Josie had a heart defect that was surgically repaired today.
Praise the Lord, she is doing GREAT!!
You can read her updates on the Kenward Blog
Please keep praying for her recovery, and for her family - Kim and Chris, and big sister Emma!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Here is super-soccer-girl!

Anya had her first 2 tournaments of the season with her traveling soccer team.
Yesterday I took her to her games, and her friend Maria came with us. Today, Mike took her to a different town for a second tournament.
When you live in Wyoming, and you have kids on a traveling team, they AIN'T KIDDING!
You travel.
You drive hours to a tournament, watch your talented offspring play, and then drive home. This spring, the tournaments are 2 hours away max, which isn't bad. Not for around here :-)).
Last fall, her team was a young team, and they lost. One game after another. It was hard to watch. But the girls had fun, and loved their little team cheer (I really think that was their favorite part!).
This weekend's games were very different. They played 6 games in all, and WON FOUR OF THEM! They were just so excited about it! Gosh, they really deserved it, too!
And they still love their team cheer :-))
Her coaches started to give out a tournament award to the most outstanding player of the day, and today Anya received the award. She was so happy and proud!

Anya is #24, on the left. She is very quick and focused, and a great team player.Yesterday, she played the goalie position for the first time. She kind of liked it, but it made her nervous, too, she said. She likes playing forward the best!
Maria, one of her best friends since Kindergarten!

Summer, where are you?


In eager (or maybe desperate??) anticipation of summer, I bought Nina a new summer dress yesterday. She LOVES dresses, and although she probably has enough of them, I could not resist.

We were out of town for Anya's first soccer tournament of the season, and of course TARGET calls my name anytime I'm near one :-)). I can definitely recommend their selection - cute stuff!

Nina was a bit disgusted that she could not wear it today, but it's only in the 30's again (sigh), so I let her at least try it on and prance around in it before nap time!


Thursday, April 10, 2008

Can she be any cuter?

Nina had her first haircut this afternoon. We have been letting her hair grow since last summer, and it has grown LOTS. It was time to even it out a bit and trim the ends.
She really did not want to go to the salon (I did NOT cut it myself.... did that once with Anya, and I will never do it again! I buzz the two little boys, that's all I can do!).
Sitting in a chair and checking herself out in the mirror was all it took to convince her that this was actually FUN!
She loved every minute of pampering, and she was so happy with the results!
I hope she will grow up and realize what a beautiful girl she is! Not in superficial, proud and stuck up way, but in a way that gives her confidence and a love for life and others, because her beauty is inside and out!
Before going down for her nap, we did a quick photo shoot, and she was full of silliness and giggles, it was so funny.

This is what her hair looked like before
During...
getting better and better... (and yes, we're staring INTENTLY!!)
And putting the finishing touches on!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

This and That

This is quite a mix and match type of post.
Mike is gone all week, and he took our camera with him. Anya has a nice little camera, too, so I used hers tonight during soccer, and I decided to download all her pictures after we got home.
I found some that I would like to share....

The first one is a cute one of my best friend Andrea's little girl Ella and Miss Nina. I went back to our "old home town" in South Dakota a couple of months ago, and it was nice to introduce Nina to them! Andrea was always so excited and supportive of our adoption plans, and I love her dearly (not just for that reason, of course).
We drove by our old house and visited our old neighbors, who pretty much adopted us while we lived across the street from each other. They are an older couple whom we had so much fun with!
Just as a comparison..... this was in front of the same house in 1999 - Nico was 2, and Anya about 5 months old. And me... almost 10 years younger *LOL*
Then I found a picture of the lunar eclipse on Nina's birthday. Anya must have taken it, and I am so glad she did!
Then here is a picture of tonight's soccer game. It was a late game, and it got really cold after the sun went down. It actually SNOWED earlier this afternoon, but then it had all melted by the time soccer came around. Let me tell you, the weather has been so weird, and I'm so tired of it *Boohoo*
Nico is doing a great job this spring, and he really enjoys soccer. That's him on the left with the black hat!
Nina had a good time tonight. Her and her Mama had quite a disciplinary disagreement last night, and I think she is still mad at me. She decided that she was not going to love me anymore, just because she doesn't want to. Sigh.... I know she will come around again, and she really is not even pushing me away, but to hear those words still stings. I keep reassuring her that I love her anyway, and that Love will grow (that's why I like the poem in the sidebar so much).
So tonight at the game she was partying it up with Grandma, and I think that was really good for her. I pulled her hat down too low at one point, and she thought that it was just the funniest thing ever. She giggled and giggled about it, it was very cute!
Oh, and while I'm catching up on stuff, I'm sure you also want to know that our second Triop died too, a few days after the first one. Poor thing died of "molting complications" - basically he was unable to shed his skin properly. 
And while we have one "pet" less, we are pretty sure that we have a bunch of new ones arriving in about one month. Little  Miss kitty Midnight looks quite pregnant, and the kids are super excited about the prospect of having a litter of kittens soon. It should be around Anya's birthday at the beginning of May - yay! 

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

I think she sang a song in chinese....

I can't believe it, but I think I may have caught my daughter singing a song in CHINESE!
We hardly EVER heard Nina speak chinese.
Not even in China.
There were a few words here and there, right in the beginning, but after that, NOTHING. She would not speak to our guides, our chinese speaking friends, nobody.
Tonight, while I was cooking dinner, she sat on the counter, coloring. And then she started singing. It was not a song I had heard before, or that reminded me of any other song, and the words sounded very foreign.
I asked her to sing that beautiful song again, this time with my camera hidden, ready to capture the moment, but she just smiled at me and made something up.
I so want to draw those memories she has out of her, so I can help her preserve them. Her life before us has so much validity, it's so special, and she doesn't ever have to hide it, or pretend like that life didn't exist.
How I hope that her song will return.....

PS: Sorry, no swimming pictures again. Our swim - school pick up - and soccer schedule is a bit hectic right now, so I forgot the camera again!

What a way to wake up!

Daughters.
So precious and sweet.
When I woke up, I found a pretty purple, flowery piece of paper on my nightstand.
Anya had written another poem.
It had come to her on the way home from the mailbox this morning, while I was still pretending to be asleep.

The sunrise today
Was so pretty and gay
With a pale blue
And some orange in there, too
The clouds here and there
were spreading everywhere
Oh! The sunrise today
was so pretty and gay!

I finally clambered out of bed, realizing that I could no longer be oblivious to the fact that children needed to be dressed, fed, and sent off to school.

Here comes Nina, hair sticking up in funny directions, frustrated with trying to get her clothes on, but with a little package under one arm, Baby whale under the other.
"Mama, here is a present for you!"

She had wrapped up her little blankie for me, and although her little eyes sparkled while I unwrapped it, she made sure I remembered it was actually hers :-)

It is a good morning.
I'm so blessed.
And sometimes it's so easy to forget that.
Or maybe that's just me.

Maybe I need to get up earlier again (like I used to and loved it!), so the sunrise will inspire me too!

Thank you, girls! I love you!