FOREVER FRIENDS

In the Adoption World we talk a lot about our “forever families.” Forever has a very special meaning for our girls because it means that they will never have to face the world ALONE again. SpicyGirl is one we like to refer to as a “forever friend.” She was one of the first good friends DD made after arriving in our country a few years ago. Their birthdays are only 3 weeks apart and they have spent many playdates together. The girls share many things in common including their birth country. Although SG moved away several months ago, we hope that the girls (and mommies) will always stay in touch.

(First hug!)

We were able to stop by the Spicy family's new Aunti Anne store yesterday while on a business trip with Daddy Darling. SG was very surprised to see the girls. MommySpice even took her out of school early so that we could surprise her.

We were pleased to hear that their new business is doing well, and we really enjoyed visiting with them.

The girls had a GREAT time. It was so nice seeing them play together like “old times.” I hope that they will always be special friends and will strive to keep a close relationship as they grow older.

It was hard to say good-bye, but we are already making plans to get together again this summer, hopefully with our entire group.

WHY FROG AND TOAD ARE FRIENDS!

Frog and Toad have been good friends since at least 1974 when this book was written. Last week I think we learned the secret to their long-time friendship when we studied about frogs. Our theme was “ I use my tongue wisely.” Our discussion centered around knowing when to open our mouths and when to keep them shut…a good lesson for everyone in our family. Lol The girls tried to imitate using a frog's tongue to catch some cheerieos. They weren’t very successful in getting the cereal to stick. We’d have some awfully skinny frogs if their tongues didn’t work any better than the tape on the end of the party favors. lol

We also had a few frog races using the oragami frogs we made. It was fun until the competitive nature of both girls began to surface. Then we had to call it a tie. To ease the feeling of losing the frog race, we made some cute oreo/m&m frogs. A little chocolate goes a long way in healing hurt feelings.

We ended the week with a LATE Valentine’s Day party with our play group. DD and DB had both been sick with runny noses and coughing so I gave them a little benadryl before the party. I think I might have overdone it. LOL

This is how DD celebrated.

And this is Doodlebug shortly before she fell asleep leaving all of the guests to play by themselves. lol Although Desheng Darling missed out on most of the Valentine’s Day party, she definitely made up for it at the American Girl birthday party she attended Saturday. She had a great time! She is holding one of the party favors. (Yes, each girl received their very own new AG doll!)…This is Felicity. (Thank you, B-day girl's mommy.) The doll even attended school with DD this morning. lol

A Valuable Lesson

I wish you could have seen Daddy D’s face when Desheng Darling received this as a gift from Aunt Sherry! LOL
There’s just something about the combination of 2 giggly girls and 10,000 beads that makes him extremely nervous. LOL

Our theme this week in home school was Jewels. We studied a little about diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and other precious jewels with an emphasis on the fact that Jesus is more valuable than anything. While Doodlebug was quite thrilled with her plastic jewels, Desheng Darling preferred a trip to the local jewelry store. Unfortunately, DD has been very sick this week with flu symptoms, so we have had to cut our schools days short without a field trip. Hopefully, she’ll be better soon and we can catch up next week.

Tomorrow the girls will be making jeweled crowns…This should be fun for my two princesses.

CHINESE NEW YEAR 2009

Chinese New Year is a very important holiday to the people of China. It is probably the most celebrated holiday that they have. It lasts 15 days and began on Jan. 26, 2009. Last week DD and DB studied about some of the traditional ways that the Chinese celebrate. They made lanterns, used Chinese symbols to write "Good Luck," and enjoyed a fun dinner with their Chinese friends.

We met at a very small Chinese restaurant for dinner with many of our Chinese friends. It was very casual and the girls had a great time.

What the Girls Have Been Doing...

It’s been awhile since I posted, so I have a lot of catching up to do.
DD’s birthday lasted for an entire WEEK. She celebrated with friends and family and enjoyed every minute of it.

I just can’t believe how fast she is growing up.

While DD was celebrating her birthday, Doodlebug was celebrating her sense of fashion…

Never mind that we haven’t had rain in weeks! LOL

A LITTLE ROCK 'N ROLL

The girls studied about rocks this week. They enjoyed looking at different kinds of rocks,
building a volcano, and making Stone Soup
Of course the main emphasis was on building our lives on the Rock, Jesus Christ, so we spent a lot of time singing “The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock” which DB LOVED.

TuTu CUTE

DD and DB went to Ally’s ballerina birthday party today. Ally gave the girls these costumes to wear.

They are just TuTu Cute!

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY DESHENG DARLING!

Today DD celebrated an early Mulan birthday party with her play group friends.

All dressed in their Chinese outfits, they looked so cute! The kids enjoyed eating with chopsticks… or at least attempting to use them. Eating noodles was difficult, and eating cake and ice cream with chopsticks was next to impossible. LoL

The food was fun, but as usual... DD thought the gifts were the best part! Thanks everyone for making this a GREAT day for DD!

A special treat…We were joined by a new cutie, Eddie, from Vietnam and his mom, Jennifer.

This was Eddie’s first b-day party since coming to the U.S. You can read his story here:

Play Groups and Penguins

The first part of our week was spent studying penguins with an emphasis on “loving everyone, especially our families.” Penguins are great parents and withstand terrible weather conditions to care for their young. The girls enjoyed eating like penguins with a menu of starfish tuna sandwiches and goldfish!
We left our cold Antarctica studies to join our friends at the park. We were expecting temperatures in the mid 70’s.
Here’s a picture of the group with two new friends. Mary, who has only been in our country for 8 days (on the left end) already has her arm around Doodlebug. I think she’s going to fit in just fine. And Megan joined us too (2nd one from the right). It was great having her. Unfortunately, her schedule doesn’t allow her to be with us very much, but we’re glad she could make it today. She’s a real cutie...love her curly hair.

THE SEARCH IS ON!

Once again, DD has requested a party theme with NO pre-packaged supplies…invitations, matching plates, napkins, cups, or anything else. I’m not even sure I can buy party theme stickers! With her birthday only a few weeks away, I’ve started my search for non-existent MULAN party supplies. While some mothers may enjoy the challenge of finding just the right accessories…I can’t say that I do! Don’t get me wrong….I enjoy b-day parties… as long as everything falls right into place. It tends to work better that way for my perfectionist Type-A personality. (I can’t believe I just admitted that.) Although I’ve mellowed quite a bit, I still stress WAY TOO MUCH over the little things in life!

But, look what I just found at http://www.uprintinvitations.com/

Invitations
Mulan Edible Cake Image

These are TOO CUTE! Now, on to stressing about something else. LOL

A New Year...A New Look

A new BLOG look! Hope you like it.
We had a wonderful time with family and friends over the Christmas holidays, and it was great having Daddy Darling take a few days of vacation time; although he rarely, if ever, actually leaves his work…even when he says that he’s on vacation. He even managed to work from China during the two weeks we were there getting Doodlebug!
The girls got so many great gifts for Christmas! I think DD’s favorite was the bike from Santa.
Undoubtedly, DB’s favorite was the red dress from her cousin, Matt.

It seems to be the appropriate attire for any activity. See what I mean…

She even wore it to bed last night. I think she’s worn the red dress at least one time per day EVERY day since Christmas. lol

Merry Memories

CHRISTMAS PARTY 2008

We met at our house this year for our play group Christmas Party. We made the traditional group pictures. Those who could twirl…twirled. The one who couldn’t…watched and planned her moves for next year’s party. lol
Then we exchanged $2 gifts, changed into play clothes and had a blast outside in our 73 degree weather. What a sweet group of friends!

Here are some pictures from previous Christmas parties.
CHRISTMAS PARTY 2007

CHRISTMAS PARTY 2006

CHRISTMAS PARTY 2005

We have such Merry Memories! We are so thankful for our special friends!