Bathroom upgrade!! It only took a couple years but now we are in the process of updating the older part of the house. So far one room has been entirely repainted and flooring taken up. But the main event was the bathroom. I truly missed my opportunity and should have entered it into a contest for ugliest bathroom. How could I not win with a weird window, delapidated drywall, a tarp covering part of the back wall, and a toilet that had seen better days in the 70s??!! Even worse - I did not take any before pictures. But I do have transition pictures.

Another late night conversation with a little imp that refuses to go to bed and sleep:

N: Mama?

Me: yyyeeeeesssss

N: My chinese name Wei Peng?

Me: yes it is

N: You can call me Wei Peng then?

Me: You want me to call you Wei Peng instead of Nathan?

N: Yes, mama

Me: Yes I can call you Wei Peng

N: (smiling) Oh goody mama. Thank you mama. You are so very kind.

Yes, that made me smile too.

For scenes of some dance action from the girls' performances at the Cherry Festival click on the smilebox. Turn on your sound tho before you start it. Oh,and after it opens in its new window you will need to hit the little (arrow)play button again to start the show. I, of course, just sat there waiting for something to happen by magic. Doesn't seem to work that way. :)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

How to embarrass a 14yo boy? Just have an unexpected birthday party when he thinks he has slipped under the radar and skipped out on it. Just "chillin" with his friends - HA! My job as his aunt is to make sure that never happens.

So I show up with cake, cards, and cousins in tow to make sure that he knows his family loves him.

Check out the nonchalant attitude - cuz he is too cool for birthdays

OOo- not so cool now. This is cause for celebration. Look- almost a smile even.

His friends liked the cake. And almost another smile there too.

Mission accomplished. Doubly so because apparently I embarrassed my almost 13yo daughter when I asked one young lad (with an immensely studded - lots and lots and lots and lots- jean jacket) if they were a protective barrier against anyone from his family giving him a hug. OMG - How could I say that in front of all those cute guys??? Because, dang it, that is my job. And my joy.

Nathan is getting a new sister. Actually all my kids are getting a new sister but this is especially important to Nathan. Nathan's requirements for "his" family were 1 new sister and 2 brothers. Now that is not going to happen unless (1) I win the lottery and/or (2) by some other miracle I meet a man, marry him and he has some of his own kids. So in lieu of that I was working on getting Nathan a younger brother. Younger because Nathan himself is so small for his age (and I am not allowed to go back to China to find one) and Nathan wants someone his size to fight (ahem, I mean play) with.

But as with building a biological family the next kid always seems to have a mind/gender of their own. So a girl it is. A sister. Nathan was quite happy to add a sister but upon seeing her picture and realizing she is a GIRL he immediately turned to me and said "she is okay but I need brother FIRST". I explained to him how we don't always get to pick boy or girl. Families grow in their own particular ways. In this case a girl will come first. He pondered on that. Yes, Nathan does ponder. He said "ok but I will need two puppies then" (referring to Junior the mini doxie).


I can tell my family is definitely going to grow in interesting ways.

But, hey, at least for the moment they are the same size.

Communication - the heart of all families. The following two conversations were overheard between my two 12 yo girls.

S: I want to go see 17 again. Do you want to see it?

C: I have not seen it yet.

S: I know that's why I am asking.

C: But I have not seen 17 yet

S: No 17 again

C: But I have not seen it first time.

S: (laughing) no the movie is called (Speaking slowly) 17 again.

C: Oh. Yes I want to see it



and in the same vein here is another conversation. Sarita was setting up Callista's email account on Yahoo so Callista could email her friends during the summer.



C: Did you set up my mail?

S: Yep all done

C: What is my password

S: Your password is secret.

C: (pauses here to think) I know but what is it?

S: It is secret.

C: (getting kind of riled) But I should know it - it is my password.

S: (getting it now) Callista, your password is secret - S E C R E T

C: Oh. Ok.



Ahhh - and I wonder how they get into fights. Perhaps I should marvel at how well they do get along.

When I was a kid we did not "graduate" from every grade. We graduated from High School and College. That was pretty much it. Now to be fair my kindergarten class may have had a ceremony but I would not know since I only went for two weeks. Not necessarily smarter than everyone but definitely sicker for awhile.

But nowadays kids graduate from pre-school, kindergarten, 6th grade, 8th grade, and beyond. It's become a veritable love-fest gift-giving commercial season for all the grades. Parents obediently show up at the proper time and place to see their kids perform a variety of almost audible songs and rote memorized parts to skits or performances. Secretly we all are there to see the cute flub ups and hear the interesting things that come out of our kids' mouths that will make the teacher die of embarrassment. Not the parents, of course, cuz our kids are just too cute.

Being a parent of older adopted kids I have missed some of these milestones. There are so many more that I will be a part of that I feel it is a good trade off. Sometimes though it's good to start at the beginning.

Hence, I just cannot wipe the shit eating grin off my face because really he is soooo cute:

Nathaniel - graduate of Miss Kim's pre-school class of 2009

So how is the new puppy on the block doing? Let's see he is 1/8th the size of my smallest other dog and the kids love to be around him. He has turned out to be very laid back and accepting of being picked up, pulled around, riding on scooter toys with a small child holding on to him, playing with the big dawgs, running through the snow (there is no sight equivalent to a wiener dog running/surfing through 8 inches of snow), and just all around excellent family dog.

Gracie with her toy (she is about 65 lbs)

or is it Junior with his toy? (he is about 8 lbs)

A boy and his puppy or a puppy and his boy?

Hanging with the cool kid

Burnout and play time. Two things that happen after Christmas. The kids are back in school but apparently bedtime is still skewed. I am hoping by the end of this week that they will be much more accepting of what I call a decent bedtime for school nights.

Nathan is involved in Leapster action (what we have that passes for video games at our house) but Sarita seems less involved.

Callista has found a way to enjoy Nathan's new toy. They both seem to get an inordinate amount of pleasure from pushing each other as fast as they can into the couch and walls.

Happy Birthday Callista! 12 years old. 3 kids down one to go. Callista scored big on the chinese dvd and cd front. I believe she spent the next 3 days and nights watching "smiling pasta" volumes one and two. I did hear music as well but I think I now have to admit that having her birthday during Christmas break might not be so bad.

However, we did discuss doing something two weeks prior or so next year. She discovered that most all of her friends were busy (meaning parents are burned out) just two days after christmas.

Football? Spongebob? Who knows - they are just so cute together.