The Three K Kids Updates

We had our first heavy frost

2008-11-11T06:26:00.001-08:00

We woke up yesterday to a heavy frost. Max needed to be at the school and ready to play by 6 am for basketball. Wow that was early! I took a few pics that I will post later.
I had the remarkable luck to view two deer in our subdivision yesterday morning as well. They were about 20 yards from me. Awesome beauty in those animals.
Today it is raining. I think it is supposed to last all day. We woke up yesterday to 26 degrees farenheit. It didn't get over 39 degrees yesterday.

One last violet peeking through the leaves

and covered with frost.

Now just to confuse everyone

2008-07-13T05:45:00.001-07:00

I have started a new blog called: www.ourthreekkids.blogspot.com
We'll see how this goes!

Lots and lots of rain

2008-07-12T17:41:00.000-07:00

Overnight we had 5 inches of rain in 1 hour with severe thunderstorms. Then today we had 2 more on top of that! We have a bridge washed out in town, a road washed away and a hole in another one. Our swimming pool is nearly over flowing. Roads were flooded this morning and it was a challenge to leave town and head out to a swim meet first thing this morning. The rain stopped for the meet and for Kaci to attend a pool party at their home pool.

During the week we had another swim meet. The girls are loving it, and Kole is hating having to go and sit and watch. LOL Of course he would. He is a very busy boy.

Kali has decided that she wants to do tumbling this next school year along with band and Kaci wants to do dance and piano. Kole will be doing football and piano. He was not very fond of basketball. ha ha ha

We are getting ready to get Kole's bedroom ready to welcome Max William our new exchange student from Brazil! We know that Max is interested in the Symphony Orchestra in Springfield and is looking forward to it (we think). I would expect him to be here at least a week before school starts.

This year I am supervising 3 other exchange students during their 10 month stay. They all, including our Max seem like very motivated students. I placed two boys and two girls this year. Pretty good for someone with a full time job, a wife, and mother to three children and 4 dogs and a cat.

The kids had a sitter come to the house last week so our day care provider could have a well deserved vacation. They loved it! They played games and did chores. Their favorite was hide and seek with all the lights out and drapes pulled to make the house dark. No lights could be used. Kayla also did the girls hair for their swim team photos. She was awesome! I hope Tracy won't mind if we borrow her from to time. LOL

4th of July madness

2008-07-05T05:55:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy 4th of July. The day started with getting kids ready and packing the van to go to a 4th of July cookout/party, then to see Grandma and the new member to the family, then back home. We left at 11 in the morning and returned at 11 at night. We took all three kids and the two smaller dogs This made or quite the van full.

We had a wonderful time with our friends the Wanless family, Newbury family, Dodd family and so many others. The park was awesome and so was the view! The food and company could not have been beat. Just an overall fun day!

We visited with Grandma for a very short time, then off to see my brother, Pat (new grandpa) and Sondra (new mommy) and Trey, Sondra's new son.

On our way home we were able to view the fireworks shows from all the little towns on the way through. Very cool. At one point we were watching 4 different shows at once.

We did not get to see Sondra. She was sleeping. Her brother Phil was sleeping too. But we were able to chat with my brother and his near to be fiance Patty. And all of us except Kole got to hold Trey. Yes, his name is Trey not Trevon. Full name: Trey Maurice Cunningham, DOB: July 1, 2008.

See the pictures from our day:

Playing badminton and a view from the park

The we have lots of pictures of everyone passing baby Trey around.

I could just sit and hold Trey all day. Hmmmm I wonder if mommy Sondra would let me have him for a couple days then I can give him back! ha ha ha I love it!

His monster feet are longer than my index finger! We think he will have long feet like his dad. We are thinking he has Sondra's lips and Davids nose. But definitely looks like Grandma Cuningham when we bunches up his face! LOL

We've been busy

2008-07-03T05:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we finally got the pool put together and started filling it. We finally have it filled by adding some water each day. Kole is so excited about the pool.

Now we just need to put on the steps for the deck and it will be done too.

We also let Mia in for a while the other day and boy did the dogs have fun. It raised havoc in the household, but all in all they behaved pretty well.

Kali with Mia and Reiko

A little on the dark side.

Mia and Tasha have learned how to open the gate so we have to keep a clasp through the hole to keep them from opening it and wandering the neighborhood. I have found out that there is at least one neighbor scared to death of Mia. The only reason is because she is a doberman. They are also afraid for Reiko because he barks. Jeez. Oh well. We are doing what we can to keep all four contained.

A new great nephew

2008-07-02T04:12:00.000-07:00

Finally got the picture loaded to the computer
Trevon Maurice July 1, 2008

Last night our neice gave birth to her first baby. A baby boy who she and the David, the father, have named Trevon Maurice. At least that is what the name was going to be, who knows that may change. She had to have a cesarean since there were difficulties and he was finally born about 9:15 pm on July 1. He is 9.06 pounds, 21.5 inches long and his head is 39 centmeters! He has one big head! I will share a pic of mom and baby when I get one. Mom and baby were both donig well at 9:30 last night and baby Trey was trying to find anything to hang on to. LOL Pat, my brother said that Phil, the new uncle did the same thing in his sleep.

That's all for now!

Added a pic and added the name change. Isn't he a cutie!

Swim team keeping us busy

2008-06-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

We have been keeping busy with swim team practices and meets. The girls are really enjoying their time on the Dolphins team.

Kali just after finishing a race
Kaci getting ready for a race

We had a really hard downpour of rain the other day and it was warm and raining so the kids went out to play in the rain with plastic cups to catch the rain water

Kali, Kole, and Kaci with their cups
Playing in the rain!

Just some pics

2008-06-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

Kole and his new haircut
He has the remnants of a temporary tattoo left on his forhead
Kaci with her hair pulled back
She has a new cut also, but just a trim really
Kali and her new cut
She though it was a bit too poofy...
Reiko relaxing
Smile for the camera Carmella!

Kole's new Chinese outfit

2008-06-15T11:08:00.001-07:00

We had a friend who traveled to China not long ago to adopt their son and I asked if she could pick up Kole a new outfit. They are hard to find in the US and are much less in cost in china.

She picked the perfect one! And it is the perfect fit! Thank you Mary Beth!!!!

Doesn't he look handsome in his new clothes!

Farewell to Vivian

2008-06-13T04:14:00.000-07:00

We saw Vivian off at the airport yesterday. The girls have been vey sad. They understand that she is going home to be with her family, but they still have their hearts aching. We emailed last night and of course that started the crying all over again. They will be fine soon.

Here is a last picture of all 4 kids together

Kole, Kali, Kaci, Vivian(Chi-An)

more deck and bubble wrap boy swim meets

2008-06-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

I brought home bubble wrap to help Vivian pack fragile items to send out west. Kaci thought it would be really funny to wrap up Kole and send him with her! LOL

Bubble wrap boy!

The other bubble wrap will be used for Chinese New Year Celebration early next year. That will be our firecrackers!

The deck is coming along

Kole jumping off the deck

Kali and Kaci participated in their first swim meet this season. This was Kaci's first ever. They both did very well!
Kali and Kaci at the meet in the bullpen
Kaci doing the back stroke

Building a deck enjoying the weather

2008-06-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

We've been building a deck on the back of the house. It is coming along quite nicely. It might be done in another couple weeks. Kole has helped by scooping gravel into wheelbarrows and sweeping up loose gravel on the driveway. He thinks he is helping by standing on the cross beams with his hands on his hips. Very funny. Kole has decided he likes being able to go with out a shirt. We tease him about how he is trying to get all the girls to look at him. LOL

Kali had a piece of art that is just fabulous! How she was able to hide it from me is still amazing. It is 3 ft high by 2 feet wide. It would fit very nicely in a poster frame.

Carmella, aka Sweetpea is coming along. She still barks at Boyd a lot, but each day I notice it is getting better.

I took another few pics outside today. It was such a beautiful afternoon and evening. Who could resist.

Front of the house
More front of house
Mia in the fenced part of back yard

Tasha looking over the fence

Funny Rieko pictures

He stole a balloon

We took the balloon away from him after he popped it.

School is out!

2008-06-03T04:05:00.000-07:00

On Monday the kids had their last 30 minutes at school getting their report cards. Seems like a waste of gas etc, but this is the way they do it.

We will start with Kali . All A's one B. She will move on to 7th grade next year with a change in school buildings.
Kaci is not on an A B C grade. She had all percentages above 91%. 90 - 100% is the top. She will move on to 3rd grade next school year
Kole made huge leaps in Transistional Kindergarten and will move on to Kindergarten next year.
Vivian had all A's and one B. Yeah! I think this is fantastic!

In 9 days we will be bidding Vivian farewell. We are all going to be very sad to see her go. We have enjoyed having her as a part of our family for this past 10 months. The foreign exchange student programs can be so rewarding for both the family and the student. They are what you make them. We saw this as an opportunity to help a student and to increase our family for just a short time. She is and will always be a part of our family in our hearts. Her family will always be a part of family too.

We are having a lot of rain today. Already overnight we have had 3 inches. This will continue all day. It has been a long time since we had this much rain at one time.

That's all for now!

One week of school left

2008-05-23T04:42:00.000-07:00

This week has been filled with field trips and band concerts. Afte today, there is only one week left and it is just a fun week.
Tuesday was Kali's band concert. The kids did a fantastic job! Last night was Vivian's. I was surprised when she sang a solo in Chinese. It reduced me to tears. It was beautiful. I could listen to that song over and over. The audience loved it! I know we will never have another student with us quite like Vivian. She has been a shining star in our family this year.
This weekend we head up to my mom's for a couple days to give Boyd some time away from the kids and taking Sweetpea (aka Carmella) with us. We will see how well she travels.

Girls Day out

2008-05-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

The girls and I had a very fun day! After shipping off a box of belongings for Vivian we went to the Art Fair where there were around 180 artisans and a children's tent where all the art was between 4 and 6 dollars. Great stuff for the prices too! I, of course went a little crazy at my favorite place. Charlotte Fung Miller. She does Chinese Watercolors and so does her daughter! Here's a couple pics of items I purchased today.

After the Art fair we went to lunch, then to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Which is really pretty spectacular! From there we stopped at Lincoln's Tomb then home. Whew! The day ended up beautiful. Here are some fun pics from the Museum

Vivian, Kali and Kaci with the Lincoln family

Vivan, Kali and Kaci with a young Abe Lincoln

Dressing up in Mrs. Lincoln's attic

Here is Kole is his new hat holding a weird Lincoln souvenir

And Kali with Reiko and Carmella who may become
Sweetpea

Kole's Progress in Tranisistional Kindergarten

2008-05-14T03:57:00.001-07:00

I had the pleasure of meeting with Kole's teacher yesterday for a parent teacher conference.
Wow what a long way Kole has come in just over 2 years! We are very proud of his acedemic progress and behavioral too.

At the beginning of the school year he could name 60 words now at the end of the school year they had to cut him off at 145. For Letter Recognition at the beginning of the school year he could name 2 in 60 seconds. Now he can name 19 in 60 seconds. He does know all letters lower and upper case except q,n,u,h. He did take a lot of thought but he did get them all but those 4! He can out to 49 in 60 seconds at the beginning of the year he could count to 19. He can identitfy 38 numbers in 56 seconds now, when at the beginning of the year he could identify 28 numbers.

When it comes to class behaviour he does not disrupt class, but does have some problems staying focused in large group settings.

He raises his hand, alot. LOL Then sometimes has forgotten what he wanted to say.
He used to not even want to participate or would just interupt to tell the teacher something.

He has very good social skills, with the exception of being a bit controlling. LOL But we knew that!

He wants to be a good student and please his teacher. He also will give exceptional work but can be very meticulous which can cause him to work at a slower rate then the others in class.

He still builds spectatular towers with large wooden blocks and when he puts them away, he does so by shape, size and color.

All in all I would say his year in Transitional Kindergarten was fantastic!

Meet Carmella

2008-05-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

We have a new friend living with us. Her name is Carmella. She is so sweet. Reiko likes her too. Maybe a little too much. Or maybe he just doesn't trust the little girl. Carmella is a 2 year old dachsund mix. She came to the Animal Protective League with 5 puppies. Those puppies are being fostered. Carmella started as a total basket case. Now she is a happy go lucky little girl.

Carmella first home

Kali giving Carmella a treat. Reiko already

ate his.

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up as usual and went to my weight watchers meeting and grocery shopping. Of course it has been cold and rainy and windy today. When I arrived home, the kids had their Mother's Day cards and gifts all ready for me. Pretty Pink Carnations, Lovely smelling lotions from Victoria Secret, a shadow profile of Kole in a frame, a bouquet of paper flowers with little chores on them from Kaci and cards from the rest too! Tonight they are taking me to dinner so I don't have to cook.
I bought a pair of emerald earrings and said they were from the kids. Ha ha ha ha! They loved them!

Last week Kaci helped mow the lawn.
Kali has finished track and volleyball. Plus she was in a science fair at school
Soccer is almost done. School has 3 weeks left.
I have a parent teacher conference for Kole this week.
Boyd bought a mini bike for the... kids... ah hem ahem. I think for him.
Vivian has started packing a box to send to her aunt and uncle in California. It is sad to see her packing, but I am also so happy that she will be with her family again. I know she must have missed them something awful. She is so excited to be getting things ready to go. She flies off on June 12. We hope to be able to keep in touch with her always.

Oh, and my friend Colleen has tagged me! Now I have been tagged twice! I have already told the stuff, but did not tag anyone else. ha ha ha

Taylor, Nicole and Kali

Kaci mowing

Abigail and Kali at science fair

Alyssa and Kali at Science fair

Abigail's Cool Hats and
Kali and Alyssa's Handi-Notes

The Mini-bike

Sunday another busy day

2008-05-04T18:46:00.001-07:00

Kali returned from State Ensemble Solo competition Friday with a 1st Division in a clarinet duet.

Sunday we went to Kali's last volleyball game then off to Morton for a Farewell potluck for the Foreign Exchange students. We too Reiko with us and we ended up spending a lot of time in the dog park. It turned into a perfect day for being outside this afternoon.

Kali getting ready to serve

Kole being bored on the ride to the pot luck

Kali whopping on Kaci and Kaci wopping on Kole
on the ride to the potluck

Several students playing at the park

Kaci, Grace, Viviain and Yukari

Reiko, worn out after running with the big dogs

Things are slowing down

2008-05-03T05:09:00.000-07:00

Taking time to smell the flowers.

Finally things are slowing down a little. O.k., today is busy and tomorrow will busy, but not like the previous weeks.

We are finally going to build the deck we always wanted on the back of the house. Next week the materials will be delivered.

Track and volleyball are wrapping up. I believe soccer will be wrapping up soon as well.

I am going today to check out the Jr. Football league in town for the kindergarten/first grade team for Kole. I think he will enjoy the physical part of football. I think he could be really good at it. Kole will also be starting piano lessons this summer with Kaci's instructor. He is really looking forward to it.

All the pets are doing well. Mia is doing very well on her Thyroid medication. She is finally looking like the Doberman that she is intead of a Rottweiler with a Doberman head! ha ha ha

Kole was in a Transistional Kindergarten/Kindergarten end of year program at the school. I found out after we arrived that he needed to be dressed like either a farmer or a farm animal. I lost the paper they sent home so he went dressed in his favorite red shirt and black shorts.

He is in the first row sitting down third from the right.

Chase, Kole, Joey and the back of Kelsey's head.

The boys are Kole's two best buds.

3 shows down and 2 to go

2008-04-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

Friday night's Gala Event was awesome. The girls wlooked fabulous and mom was worn out from shuttling little girls from one place to another for the show. I forgot my camera which was such a shame, but today, I remembered the camera! so here are some pics of our little Kaci as Ivy in her third American Girl Fashion show. She is having the time of her life and looking for more opportunities like this. She loves the catwalk!

With several charactes before the show
Back stage before todays late show
Kaci being silly back stage
on stage

Finale

Kali's Spring pictures are in

2008-04-24T04:00:00.001-07:00

Spring is finally here and it feels like it too!

Spring pictures finally came in from the Intermediate school. There are 25 full days of school left for this school year. The kids are getting excited for it to be over. Then the summer break begins. The kids are not as excited about that since their dad is working days this summer and they have to go to someone else's house for the day. At least I know where they are and that they are not getting hurt or anything.

Spring school photo of Kali
Track picture of Kali.

Rehearsals, earthquake, and stuff

2008-04-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

Kaci as Ivy doll at rehearsals

Well, I am not mom anymore. I am a taxi driver for kids and a bank. I spent all day with Kole and Kaci today while Boyd went with Kali to her volleyball game and Vivian went to a soccer game. Of course they were in three different locations.

It was quite crazy. Boyd had a flat tire on his car to get repaired so we were down to one vehicle today until noon. So it was a shuttling nightmare. Kole behaved very well today for a 6 year old boy hanging out at a fashion show dress rehearsal. LOL He had to hear the whole dialog four times! Two times before lunch and two times after. But I guess it was worth it to get a meatball sub for lunch. then a trip to Barnes and Noble for books. What a day. Then home to fix supper and do some laundry. The kids are wound up and driving us crazy. I was looking for a bit of quiet time... hmmmmm what is that!!!??!?!?

Oh, we had an earthquake. LOL I slept right through it and then missed the after shock while I was out for a walk... hmmmm Everyone else noticed it, but not me. Guess i just don't pick up on those things. It was centered southeast of us, so it wasn't too near and no damage or anything. I don't even think the dogs noticed it much. It lasted about 15 seconds or so.

Very busy and accidents happen

2008-04-15T04:02:00.000-07:00

We were very busy this weekend with soccer, volleyball and American Girl Fashion show rehearsals. This whole weekend upset Kole's routine, so he was ornerier than usual. He does not like to not get his way. Of course that is any child, but most would wander off and find something to do. Well, Kole did. He decided it would be great fun to walk on the back of out pillow back sofa. Well, his balance was not that great and he fell and smacked his face on the arm of hte couch which is not padded very well and now has a really good shiner. The kids are on spring break this week, so we are able to keep putting ice on it for a couple days to get the swelling down more. He has been going to daycare to keep him busy while the girls are here doing extra chores and watching movies. They are doing pretty good, with the exception of calling 911 by accident whiole trying to dial a different number. I told them to quit it!LOL
You would think at ages 16, 11, and 8 they could amuse themselves. NOT!
Thank goodness the weather is getting nicer and they can go bike riding and stuff like that.
Next weekend tends to be another busy one. Volleyball, soccer, and fashion show rehearsals again. This next weekend is dress rehearsals. I will try to get some pictures of that.
And then poor Kole just gets dragged around all over the place wherever we have to be. No wonder he is acting out. hmm sounds like Kole needs a date to do something he wants to.
That's all the updates for now.

Minor changes

2008-04-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

I had to make some minor changes to leaving comments. Twice someone sent a comment to click here and that was not very nice. So, from now on I will have to moderate all comments and I added extra security to make it more difficult for family and friends to leave messages because someone thought this was cute. If it continues I will have to make our blog available by invitation only.

I hope this will end that nonesense.

Spring pictures are rolling in

2008-04-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

The spring pics are rolling in.. I can't believe the amount of money I spend on school pictures!

Kali in her volleyball uniform
Her spring pics will be in the next week or so.

Kaci 2nd grade... Can you believe she is only 8!

Kaci in her basketball uniform.

And believe it or not! Kole is smiling this time! YEAH!

More pics to come as they roll in.

Easter and Birthday in the same weekend

2008-03-25T03:56:00.000-07:00

Since this was the earliest Easter ever that we can remember, Kole's 6th birthday was the Saturday before. Made for a lot of celebrating this weekend. We went to Grandma's house and spent the weekend. The girls and I went window shopping on Saturday while Kole hung out with Boyd and Blain. Then we had cake for Kole and he had a few gifts to open. Everyone had a good time. Then on Easter the kids had breakfast and went outside for an Easter Egg hunt before the squirrels could steal them this year. After the Easter Egg hunt it was time to watch a movie while mom and I started Easter lunch/dinner. Kole and Kaci played with Kole's new presents and Kali and Vivian watched TV with Boyd. I took Reiko for a walk and then we ate. After leaving mom's house we went down by the river then off to Brent's for a breif visit on the way to see Great Grandma. Then finally home where housework awaited and getting things ready for the week was still here.

Kole happy with himself

Opening that really big long gift

Birthday cakes

Blowing out candle

WOW a tractor

Easter Egg hunt

Kali looking for eggs

All the kids with eggs

By the river

Reiko is ready to go home

So proud of the girls this week

2008-03-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

What a week! Kaci auditioned to be in an American Girl Fashion show as Ivy the new Asian American friend of Julie in the line up of historical dolls. She was accepted and will be in 5 shows April 25 - 27th in Springfield!

The same day that Kaci auditioned, Kali called to tell me that her friend Jaimie and herself earned a spot in State finals in May for their Clarinet duet ! They were only 1 point off from a perfect score! She also received a first division for her Clarinet solo and mixed woodwind duet with her other friend Alyssa (saxophone player). So, three Division I standings for Kali! Yeah!

Here are some pics from the audition night.

Kaci and Madison before the auditions

Kaci standing on stage after the auditions

Madison and Kaci on stage after the auditions

Kole's new bike

2008-03-16T05:45:00.000-07:00

Kole Birthday is this next Saturday and of course Easter is the next day! So we took him out yesterday and let him pick out a new bike. He chose a Superman bike. Of course it came in a box and had to be assembled. Boyd was busy with the grill he bought, finishing putting it together, so Kole took the initiative and pulled the bike, box and all out of the van, dragged it to the garage, opened it and proceeded to remove it all from the box and try to put it together with all the zip strips still in place. I finally took pity on him after supper and put it together. I let him help tighten all the bolts and help fill the tires with air. One very happy little boy with his new 16 inch bike. He went from a 12 inch to a 16 inch one. Today I need to get a kickstand for it. It came iwth traning wheels, which he does not need and no kick stand. He has pointed this out. His bike fell over in the night so he was out the garage dusting it off and standing it upright.

Kole sitting on his new bike.

Kole took this picture of his new bike

Kole trying to adjust the back brake cable.

A bit more of an update

2008-03-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

I looked back at our update and it really didn't say how things have changed for us and Kole. So, here is what I had posted on our orphanage yahoo group.

Two years ago March 11 we met our son Kole for the first time in the same room with two other families. What a wonderful difference two years can make. He is a boy. All boy, who at times can be talked into wanting to be a princess by his two sisters and our exchange student. He loves his sisters you can tell and they love him too. I can tell by all the brotherly sisterly, "MOM Kole touched me! Make him stop!" and "Mom Kole won't stop looking at me!" LOL Or "Mom, um Kali, Kaci won't let me......." Or "Mom, can I watch something in there "(pointing to the spare tv and holding the remote). Apparently, Kole is not fond of Hannah Montana. He loves power rangers, Teenage Mutant turtles, Transformers, cars, big trucks, monster trucks and creating. He is fantastic with a piece of clay. He loves to draw pictures of Spongebob and monster trucks and race cars and people. He builds elaborate log cabins with Lincoln Logs and builds space men and rocket ships with legos. He loves to ride his bike and run and climb. He loves playing race car track with his dad and annoy his sisters. I look back at the list of things I knew about Kole then (he liked guns, pretending to smoke, running away, hitting, kicking, spitting, evil laughing, eating, watching tv) to now and WOW how he has changed. He is in a size 5 now and came to us in a 3T. He still has a huge appetite for chocolate which is limited. He won't have to have any cleft surgeries until he is between 7 and 9. His speech is clear with no nasal. He can do all the things a regular almost 6 year old can do and I think and then some. He is still learning right from wrong, but so were my other children at this age. He loves to be read to when anyone can find time. He wants to play football instead of basketball. He wants to run. Loves to fish and play with the dogs. Life is good. I know there are many who followed our journey and read our trials and tribulations along the way. But all in all life is great. We are done adding to our family by adoption and instead host foreign exchange students. Which is a very rewarding volunteer undertaking.

Two years ago today

2008-03-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

Two years ago this is how our blog started:

We're in Hong Kong
Whew! I think my favorite line was "Are we there Yet?" The flight from Chicago was about 14 1/2 hours and we were seated next to a high school or college kid that didn't seem to want to close the shade on the window.....

We arrived in Hong Kong on March 10, 2006 to spend a day getting used to the time change before traveling to meet our son on March 11, 2006 and completing the adoption on March 12, 2006.

Here is an entry from our gotcha day:

Well, we have him here with us. Kole laughs a lot, but it is a mean kind of laugh. He likes to hit and throw toys. Then he laughs about it. If corrected he calms down and gets this oops look and I don't think I like it here look about him. He really loves animal crackers!The first night getting him to sleep was a bit rough. He did not want to take off clothes or shoes. I finally wrestled his shoes off of him and got him tucked in, He was crying and gave me a left hook to the eye. I continued holding him in bed and rubbing his head lightly while trying to calm him. 5 minutes later, out like a light. He does not like to go to bed.

An entry from just a year ago:

The only time he hits is if he really thinks he has a right to. Such as during a snow ball fight this winter. Instead of just throwing a snowball back, he hit Kaci in the nose with his fist.

I was going to post this on the 12th, but with our busy lives, I will post it here instead.

March 11, 2006

March 8, 2008

Kole is a transitional Kindergarten student. His English skills are very good and he knows them when it is convenient for him. If he thinks he is in trouble, he will forget how to answer WH questions.
Like; What did you? I don't know. Where are your shoes? I don't know.
Sometimes he can actually answer these questions. for the most part he is a good boy. Very busy. But he is a good. He can be selfish, but what almost 6 year old isn't. He likes to be physically busy all the time. Some days he is in constant motion. Other days he can sit and draw for over an hour. However it is good to know that things are moving right along.
Some times I think when we get so comfortable and things are going so well, that he has to do something to break the rules just to see if they are still there.

Well, that is all for now

Kole's artistry

2008-03-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

Kole's rendition of SpongeBob and Squigsworth and Patrick the starfish.

Kole is quite the artist!

The month is starting to get crazy

2008-03-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

Kali will be starting track next week. Kaci will be auditioning for an American Girl fashion show as Ivy, the new Chinese American girl. The fashion show is to support The Children's Miracle Network. I am thinking Kaci is the only Size 10 slim they could find in our area. Of course Kali said she could fit too. ha ha ha ha! That girl is a solid 12 if ever I saw one. Vivian is working with the High school soccer team starting the following week. Kole is just trying to get by. He has a birthday and gotcha day coming up. Easter is coming and daylight savings time starts tonight! Yuck! April will be just as crazy with rehearsals, track, soccer, piano, band, swimming.... whew! I will need a vacation! I am ove the pneumonia and feeling much more like myself. Reiko hurt his leg runing with the big dogs, so he is on meds for a week and may have to have surgery to fix it. I don't look forward to that bill. Or maybe we will just keep him on meds the rest of his life. He is only not quite one yet. Kali had Science camp for half a day today and loved it! She made a new friend named Faith from Jefferson Middle school. They hit it off right away! Kali learned about Green Architecture, Creative Chemistry and Crystal Magic. She really enjoyed herself alot! At this moment Kali and Vivian are enjoying an outing to Barnes and Noble while Boyd is pricing dishwashers etc.

Here are some cute pictures taken by the kids!

Kali carrying Kole

Kali giving Kaci the devil ears
Kole wearing Daddy's slippers

Kali and Vivian

Kali carrying Kaci

I was tagged

2008-03-06T03:58:00.000-08:00

I was tagged a while back by a friend and then I came down sick and almost forgot.

So apparently I am supposed to list 7 things that most would not know about us.

1. We are really big homebodies and like to hang out with each other and do things like hiking and biking.

2. We are entering the 1/2 century mark in age and fell that way somedays

3. Our girls gotcha days are only 4 days apart and 3 years.

4. Our login dates for all three adoptions were all in November.

5. If we had a bigger house and more income we would have more children and dogs

6. The only time we have been out o the US is to go to Canada or China.

7. We really want to live in Hawaii

Thanks Amy for the Tag.

All on the mend Spring coming soon?

2008-03-02T05:25:00.001-08:00

I think we are all better here now. Whew! What a long week! Not being able to walk across a room is really something. I am glad that is over. I had a request from our new exchange student for some pics of our town. I will post some here. It looks kind of like a ghost town at 7:30 on a Saturday morning! Things are starting to melt and this morning I could have sworn I could smell spring in the air. Oh are we ready! I am looking forward to green grass again and flowers and warm breezes and kids laughing and playing outside.

Back of our house

Main street

Down Hargrave, car wash, gas station and grocery store

Firehouse
Library from High School parking lot

Quick update

2008-02-23T16:55:00.000-08:00

Well, all the sick kids are now doing good. They each gave me a little of what they had, so now I am sick! wah! I don't get sick often, so I really hate this. We had a really good time at a foreign exchange student cabin fever swim party that we hosted. Our local paper was there to record the event and a photographer too. It will be in Sunday's paper. We were told it could be viewed at http://www.sj-r.com/ so if you want to take a peek and learn more about foreign exchange students and what we do, it should be in there. If you are in central Illinois and would like to host just let me know and I can get you set up! email address is s.bringolf@att.net

Well that is about it for now, I need to get my rest so I can be hard at it again on Monday.

I had a request for some more pet pictures so here are a few

Tasha standing and Mia looking on from inside their fenced yard
Tasha looking coy
Tinkerbell looking mad
Kali snuggling Mia
Reiko on my lap
Mia and Reiko expecting a treat.

The flu has hit our house

2008-02-18T05:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I have spent since Thurday taking care of sick kids and a sick hubby. Over two weeks ago Kole had the high fever and cough, the cough is still lingering. He still has a cough, so off to the doctor today. Kaci came down with the high fever and cough on Thursday, what a horrible Valentine's gift. Boyd came home Friday with the high fever and sore throat and cough. Then yesterday Kali started feeling bad. Not as bad as the others. Kali and I took a flu shot this year and I am SO GLAD that we did. I have spent a lot of time wiping things down with bleach water and Lyson wipes. Opening windows to air the place out. Spraying lysol all over the house and washing bedding. I will have to go back to work to get physically rested! I am keeping myself filled with healthy food and vitamins and trying to exercise regularly and washiing my hands ALOT!

Other than flu going around the house we are all doing fine. Great report cards coming home for all the kids.

Coming up soon are band solo and ensemble competitions. Kali has a science camp coming up too.

This coming weekend we are hosting a foreign exchange student Pool party! Should be a lot of fun! The pool is indoors and heated so it won't matter if it is cold outside or not!

It is really fun to losten to the kids try to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. Kali wants to be a medical scientist. Kaci wants to be a teacher. Kole is such an artist that I think he will do something very creative when he gets older.

More soon and maybe even more pictures!

Updates

2008-02-15T06:57:00.001-08:00

Well, Kali's team won their first volleyball game last weekend. She was so happy! She scored on 11 out of 12 serves! All the serves were regulation overhand. Kole participated in his Pre-K/ TK demonstration between basketball games last night. He did pretty good. Not as well as some and better than others. Kaci has had 3 basketball games so far and is doign very well. We should have her pictures soon. I am including some pics that were taken by a photographer here for sports and band, and some of Kole's event last night.

Kali with Clarinet

Kali all ready for volleyball

Kole waiting to be lined up
The pre-k/TK kids

Kaci's favorite thing, listening to music on the computer.

pictures

2008-02-02T06:21:00.000-08:00

Kole fell asleep on the couch, so Kali of course, had to be silly to him.
Kaci at the piano after practicing.

Snow!
A lot of snow!
A path shoveled to the fence

Vivian's birthday cake with all 16 candles!
Vivian with one of her gifts

A busy week and SNOW!!!

2008-02-01T05:53:00.001-08:00

We have had a very busy week. Basketball games started Sunday for Kaci. Scholastic bowl for Vivian is in full swing. Kaci and Vivian are busy practicing for their duets and solos at competition in March. Kali's volleyball practices and games are keeping her busy too.Kole is the only one that is not constantly busy.
Monday was Vivian's sweet 16 birthday! We had cake and presents before running off to extra curriculars. The school activities after school are keeping all of us busy. We are all home today. We are snowed in. 11 inches of snow and it is still blowing and drifting. I think Kali may miss her eye doctor appt. All games have been canceled. Kind of nice to have a day off from it all for all the kids and us! Although, we love being busy. The dogs are loving the snow.

I will try to get some pictures of the snow and post later.

Some fun pictures to share

2008-01-26T07:30:00.000-08:00

Kali, Sabrina, and Kaci
Sabrina and Kole

All the kids
Kole the builder

Updates from the week

2008-01-26T05:38:00.000-08:00

What a week. Kali was out of school for 3 days with a strep throat infection. She missed two games and one practice for volleyball. She went to the eye doctor this week because she was having problems seeing and voila she needed a new prescription there as well. She came home in a trial pair of contacts. She is very proud of herself. She pointed out "Do you know how much this has raised my self esteem?!" I replied "Over the top?" ha ha ha She is very happy.

Kole has regressed some the past couple weeks. He won't speak up with any volume for the teachers to hear him. Then if he does speak up, he blurts it out instead of waiting for his turn. Guess it is all in the learning process. He doesn't seem to remember anything he has done in school. When asked about what letter did you learn today (I know he did since they since the alpha bag home), his answer is I don't know. What words did your teacher teach you that start with a specific sound (make the sound), I don't know. There are a few hygiene things he has reverted back to as well. He is removed from video games and TV until he can start listening in school and taking care of certain hygiene things better. Today he has an awful cough from drainage and a sore throat. probably strep there too.

Kaci is still going strong. She loves being back in piano lessons and playing basketball. She has been well and I think is spending the night with her friend tonight and then I pick her up at church tomorrow. Her friend has to behave until they pick up Kaci, otherwise Kaci can not spend the night. The two of them are two peas in a pod. They have a lot of the same behaviors.

Vivian is doing very good. She has been kept busy with school activities and school work. She is such a big help around here too. We are enjoying having her with us so much. We really enjoyed having Sabrina with us last weekend too. I am really loving having a houseful.

Our dishwasher went out on us, so Boyd wants to go shopping for a new one. Of course to fix the old one, it will cost 2/3 of what it cost new and it is not even 2 years old. We were kind of perturbed since the place we bought it from advertises all these warranties etc. and now supposedly ours is not under warranty. So now it is do we spend $200 to fix it or spend $400 to buy a new one. Hard choice.

Next school year we are hosting a boy from Brazil. As soon as the school gets the school approval to the agency he can be notified that he has a placement. This should be a lot of fun. Boyd is not looking forward to having a high school boy in the house with his girls, but Vivian and I agree, High school boys could care less about 12 year old girls. They see them as more of a pest than anything else. I think it will work fine. He sounds and looks like a good kid and his parents are very fond of him and say very good things about him being respectful. That is a good thing.

That is all for now!

Pics

2008-01-20T15:44:00.000-08:00

I finally found time to download some pictures and get them posted. I really need to start doing the slideshow things that everyone else seems to be doing. But for now, I really donw't have time to figure more out. Tonight is our last night having Sabrina with us. She will be going to St. Louis tomorrow. the kids were taking some pics, so I jumped in and took some too. Plus there are some pics from Kaci's Cheerleading camp and performance done by our high school cheerleaders.

Kaci posing
Kole and Sabrina

Kali posing
Kole engrossed in video games

Kaci is in the center at he performance
Sabrina and Vivian looking at pictures they were taking

Kaci performance again.
Kaci practicing before performance

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Busy weekend and not done yet

2008-01-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

Friday the kids were let out of school early so we all drove to St. Louis to pick up Vivian's sister, Sabrina. The kids were loving the ride to a different state. We arrived early enough for the flight. When we had left, the flight was on time, when we arrived at the wrong terminal and had to take a shuttle to another terminal we found out the flight was running about 30 minutes behind. So we did some shopping and then waited. After we got the luggage we headed home. We stopped at a Dairy Queen outside the St. Louis area to eat and then finished our drive home. Kali and Kaci both had to be at two different schools for different activities at 9:00am this morning. I took Kali to hers early and was able to get Kaci to hers on time. Kali is spending the night with a friend, so no need to pick her up. Picked up Kaci, ate lunch then headed out to piano lessons. After that, off to the mall and the Asian food store. Then out for supper and home to get Kaci ready for her cheerleading camp performance. Kali will be home tomorrow. Then I have my time in the morning plus grocery shopping and Kaci has basketball at 1 - 2:30 and Kole has basketball from 5:30 to 6:15. On Monday we meet with Sabrina's host family for lunch and Sabrina will go with them and we will come home. No school on Monday! yeah!
Whew! Wears me out! But we are all having fun and enjoying the bustle.
Hopefully I will find some time to post pictures tomorrow.

Shriner's visit and more

2008-01-12T11:21:00.001-08:00

Kole and I took the train to Chicago this week for his Shriner's check up with the Cleft team. He was loving the train ride! I think he talked the entire way to the train station then all the way to Chicago. He had a captive audience.

> on the train ride to Chicago
After his S-rays were done.

We stayed at a hotel called The Write Inn. Really cool hotel. Not many amenities like no pool, no workout room that I was aware of, but who needed it when you could walk to a park less than two blocks away. Shopping and plenty of places to eat in about a 5 minutes walk. We enjoyed some Olberweiss ice cream and ate some food from Dino's for dinner.

Kole's exam went really well. He has one cavity that needs to be attended to by our local dentist. Other than that we are to continue his speech services as they are and spend some time working on his phonics and letter recognition. He does not need to go back for 9 months to a year.

Finishing chocolate cake for lunch
Playing in the play area during lunch to burn off some energy

Kali had her first volleyball game today. Her team only lost by 3 points! I thought that was awesome for a first game! She was pretty pumped up. She felt bad that they didn't win. They have a home game on Monday. Her team will do better then.

Kaci starts back to Piano lessons next week. So now we have a full calendar for January and February is going to start filling up too.

Boyd and I are doing fine and busy keeping up with everyone's schedules including out own. Boyd got "the kids" an H.O. race track and cars . The kids like it O.K. Boyd and Reiko really like it.

Reiko chasing H.O. cars.

That's all for now!

A new Year and more

2008-01-06T06:02:00.000-08:00

The kids go back to school tomorrow! YEAH! They need it! I have had a week of TMJ pain, I have been sick, Kali has been sick... Thank Goodness the sick only seems to last aobut 12 hours. The weather is really weird. 3 degrees last week, 56 degrees today. Kole is doing pretty good. He is starting to get mouthy which is normal for a 5 year old.
Kaci has basketball practice every Sunday and Wednesday now. She is loving it! Kali has volleyball practice on Monday and then her first game on Tuesday. She had to come home yesterday from practice because she became very ill. She was really embarrassed and mad that she missed practice. We had to send Kole to daycare on Thursday and Friday since he prooved he could not behave and listen to the older kids being here. That was a break for them and for him. Otherwise things have been pretty normal around here. I haven't had much occasion to take pics lately, so this is the only update I have. Kole and I head up to Shriner's on Wednesday for an all day Thursday Cleft clinic appointment. We are taking the train up so he is very excited about it. I will have the morning to pack since our train doesn't leave until 10:30 am. Then we will be home around 9 pm on Thursday.
More after the appointment!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2008-01-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! The kids had a blast staying up until midnight to ring in the New Year. Kole and I went to bed but the rest stayed up. We are hoping that this new year of 2008 brings many blessings to our friends and family.

Have a great year!

New page photo

2007-12-30T07:58:00.000-08:00

I loved this photo so much I put it has our header. Yukari left for her new host family last night. Kaci was devastated. She was with us for a week and we already miss her. I know she was happy to be getting to go to her friend's house to stay with her. This was a good move for her and I think she will be happy. We have all vowed to keep in touch and to get together when we can. Hosting students is such an amazing experience. I could do it again and again. They bring so much to your family and take back with them so much. I never knew how much I love having high schoolers in our home. You can't really call them children. They are young adults learning how to become adults. Yukari will be missed very much.

Just having some fun

2007-12-29T05:50:00.000-08:00

Some fun with some pics and more!

From Debonaire Kole to....

Warrior Kole

Vivian and Yukari did some cooking last night and it was very good! All the kids ate it up!

They made a curry dish and pan fried rice balls.

Here are some pics of our fun time.

Vivan and Yukari taking pics of the feast
Checking the food

While they were cooking, the other kids were having a great time playing with Kole's plastic sword.

Kali is going to hack Kole in half
Kole is getting Kali back
Kaci's turn to be hacked

My three K warriors!

Merry Christmas!!!

2007-12-25T14:16:00.001-08:00

What a very nice Christmas the kids had. At 4 am they were waking me up about something with Reiko. Then at 6 and 6:30 they were trying really hard again. Final at 6:45 we rolled out of bed to let them begin ripping.

from left to right
Kali, Kole, Yukari, Kaci, Vivian

Christmas tree with presents

Kali, Kaci and Kole with presents Christmas eve

Vivan, Yukari and Kole Christmas morning
Reiko is sleeping between Vivani and Yukari

Kaci and Kali opening presents

Kole opening presents

Pics and News

2007-12-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

First pics from the Class Christmas parties

Here is Kaci in her class

Kaci again!

Kole at his table in his class

Kole and Kilee

Kole's Transitional Kindergarten class

Now for more news. We have welcomed Yukari into our home until her new host family could get their paperwork approved by her exchange student agency. She is 17 yrs old and from Japan. I will try to get a picture of all 5 kids soon!

Final countdown to Christmas

2007-12-22T05:10:00.000-08:00

There are only 4 days to go before Christmas! With all the school holiday parties and programs over and school out for 2 weeks the kids are going to be chomping at the bit to get to those presents.

We attended 4 programs this year. A quick synopsis of the 4 are:

Junior High/High School Christmas program.
Vivian participated in the High School band, The jazz band and choir. It was awesome! The muscial talents of these students are very prevalant. It was a delightful concert!

Intermediate School
Kali participated in the band concert with the 6th grade band. She also had a solo during Carol of the Bells on Clarinet. Her grade band also toured the next day to a local nursing home and the State Capital rotunda. (I attended the concert at the capital also). They were awesome!

Elementary School
Kaci participated in "The Big Chill" which the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students particpated in. It was very well done and I wish now that I had taken the video camera!
Kole particpated in his Transitional Kindergarten program during their class party on Friday. He actually sang his part! His teacher was so impressed and so was I. He will usually just stand and stare in space!

As you can tell I am very proud of all 4 of the kids! They did a wonderful job at their programs.

I did take some pictures at the class parties for Kole and Kaci. I will try to post those later. Kali's was in a different building so it would have made it hard to make it to all three.

Today if the weather stays decent we will head up to my mom's for a bit of Christmas cheer for the weekend.

Now if I can just get the crew to help me clean house!

Oh my the elves are at it again!

2007-12-16T18:48:00.000-08:00

Check it out! the kids are elves!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1472509619

Eight inches of the white stuff

2007-12-16T07:42:00.000-08:00

We woke up to a deflated pool and a lot more snow! Here are some more cute pics!

It's a winter wonderland!

Mia and Tasha watching the kids playing

Reiko chasing after Kali and Kaci

Kole asking"What am I supposed to do now!"

Reiko helping to get the paper

Now we have snow!

2007-12-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

Oh, it is so sad! We had to cancel our Exchange Student Pool Party due to weather. WAH! Anyway, we will re plan one for February for a Valentines/Cabin Fever Party instead.

Enjoy some cute pics of our snow as of 8:30 this morning and still coming down at noon.

Kaci shoveling the driveway

Yeah Snow!

Trying to make a snowman

Reiko styling his new sweater

We have ice!

2007-12-09T09:56:00.001-08:00

We woke up to a quarter inch of ice all over the place! And more rain to freeze today!

Here are some pics of the ice.

Ice on the grass
Reiko (the Boston) and Mia (the doberman) playing on the ice

Our pine tree covered
Old marigolds in the pot covered

This is what happens when you hit a deer

2007-12-08T07:28:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday night, Boyd just missed having his entire windsheild and car totally taken out.

This is what happens to a saturn when you hit a deer almost head on.

No, he did not bring it home, but someone found it and took it home. It was a pretty good size buck.
This is the third time Boyd has hit a deer since we lived out here in this small town trying to drive in to work.

The other side is crinkled too!

Kaci's first piano recital

2007-12-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

This is Kaci and her teacher Miss Carrie

On Monday night we attended Kaci's first piano recital. She did a wonderful job playing We Three Kings and Jingle Bells. She played these as duets with her teacher on the big grand piano at the church. I was so impressed! She played very well! She has made a lot of progress in 4 months!

Santa picture

2007-12-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

This year's Santa picture Courtesy of an unnamed store who apparently was sponsoring a particular type of soda pop..

Boyd went to get this picture picked up while I and the kids spent 4 hours in the mall! ahhhh

But we made great progress on our Christmas shopping! Enjoy!

Happy Holidays

2007-12-01T06:58:00.001-08:00

Holidays are fast appoaching and the freezing rain is here! We had pictures done they are all fantastic so I used 4 of them to create the Christmas card in our header.

We wish all our friends and family near and far happy holidays and a joyous New Year!

I will try to scan in a few more to post later.

We found out this week that Kole tends to have Asthma symptoms when he has a virus. It is triggered with a virus or cold air or strong odors. So now I have inhalers for all three kids! What a year!

We've had many ups and downs this year, but thank goodness the ups out do the downs.

Kole has started really enjoying his lie with us. You can just tell that something has finally clicked with him. Or maybe it is just that Christmas is coming and he wants presents! We are not having to redirect him as much and he seems like he is growing up. He spilled water by accident this morning and he went and got a towel and cleaned it up himself. He even told me about it instead of hiding the fact that an accident happened. He also wants to help with everything and I am more than willing to have him do it. We will see how he does picking up his toys in him room so we can vacuum the floors. He has also started talking about last year and how things were going for him. He is also referring to his old mommy and daddy in China as his foster mom and dad.

The girls are doing great. Kaci has her first piano recital on Monday and Kali auditioned for solos in the Christmas concert and earned the right to play a solo during the concert on the 18th on clarinet. Kali is also doing a duet and solo for competition early next year.

Kali starts volleyball soon, Kaci will be starting basketball season soon and Kole is going to try basketball to see if it something he might like and then in the spring it will be either football or baseball. We will wait and see what he thinks then.

Vivian is having a lot of fun with friends and school. She will be doing a duet on flute in competition and a piano solo and singing solo. This weekend I am taking her and another exchange student from France to the mall for Christmas shopping. While they are on their own, I am taking my three to a store where they can shop too.

That's it for now!

They're all a bunch of animals on Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T06:40:00.000-08:00

You can't have Thanksgiving without the kids and animals going to the dogs! At least not at our house!

Mia and Reiko playing tug of war

Mia has the chewy and Reiko wants it

Tinkerbell had to have some turkey!!!!

Kole really tired after eating almost all the food on his plate

Kaci acting silly with the sparking juice bottle

Vivian thinking this whole affair is a riot

Kali trying to act like she has had too much to drink!

That's all for today!

Thanksgiving and more

2007-11-23T05:53:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. We have so much to be thankful for this year. Kali said grace for us this year and we all pigged out! There went my diet!

We feasted on Smoked Turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, butternut squash, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and cresant rolls. For dessert we had turtle cheesecake, multiberry pie, and pumpkin pie. For drinks sparkling grape juice. The kids were loving the grape juice!

Here are some pictures from our Christmas tree decorating and Thanksgiving day.

Kaci helping Boyd put up the outdoor lights

Kaci in her toolbelt

yummmm dessert

Kole building after the huge meal

The girls trying to play cards. Reiko is helping

Putting together the Christmas tree

Kole trying on the decorations. He saw the girls doing it, so he needed to try too

Kali is not pregnant, that is a pillow and she is trying to be Santa with decorations on.

The kids decorating the tree

Kole adding an ornament

Happy Kole

Digging for the last ornaments

Finished product.

I will try to post pics from the hilarity at the Thanksgiving table later. They are on Kali's camera and I can not find it.

Starting to decorate

2007-11-18T05:54:00.000-08:00

We have most of the halloween stuff down (except the pumpkins on the front porch) and have started stringing lights outside while it is still nice. Kaci helped Boyd string a good portion of the lights this weekend while the rest of the kids helped out inside with regular weekend duties. For the most part that includes helping with laundry and picking up their rooms.

I had an afternoon with a friend(another adoptive mom) and we had a blast leaving all the kids behind and heading off for an afternoon to ourselves. We both needed it very badly. A third friend who needs it a lot too couldn't make it so we are going to schedule another one so she can make it too! We spent most of our time in Barnes and Noble our favorite bookstore, drinking our lattes and mochas and checking out all the books available. We had fun looking at some we weren't sure we would like and some we knew we would love! then we headed to the mall to walk around the craziness. It was starting to look like the holidays with all the people milling around and shopping.

We finally ended up back at my house in time for me to start supper for the crew. What a fun day! I may need many more of those! ha ha ha

Just some fun pictures

2007-11-14T04:05:00.000-08:00

Kaci and Kali best buds and sisters
close up of Kaci

Kole with a wooly catepillar
Kali and Reiko

Kole trying to figure out why Kali is taking his picture
CAn you find the doggy on the shed, in the tree?

Found some artwork for the bathroom

2007-11-14T04:00:00.000-08:00

I decided the walls were pretty bare on our remodeled bathroom and added a couple touches.

These were taken by Kali.

Looks really nice. Maybe a new hamper would help too! ha ha ha

Our bathroom is redone

2007-11-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

Well, we started last Sunday to replace the flooring. Well, if you replace the flooring, the wall color doesn't work anymore and neither did the dark blue fishy border. And if you get rid of the blue and yellow you need to get id of the shower curtain too. So, our one day project to replace the flooring, turned into a one week project! I will be getting wall decorations on Monday. Oh and we scraped down the popcorn plaster ceiling and smoothed it out too!

So here are some pics during and after. I forgot to do the before. ha ha ha

Yellow walls with no more Fishy border
Trimmming up with the new paint
Ugly vanity

New shower curtain and wall
New paint on the vanity
And the flooring with the rug and shower curtain
Another prespective

All for under $150.00 Woo hoo!

Meeting with teachers

2007-11-09T04:15:00.000-08:00

Wow the kids are all doing great in school! I was blown away with how well they are doing. Especially Kole. He has only been home with us 19 months and this is his first year of real school in Transistional Kindergarten. I think we have found Kole's talent. Take a look at this:

lady bug made with Crayola foam with note rom principal
Close up of the lady bug and detail. Awesome!

School pictures 2007 - 2008

2007-11-06T18:11:00.000-08:00

Here are this fall's school pictures loaded in from oldest to youngest and no I did not save the best for last. ha ha ha

Vivian, our awesome exchange student

Kali our awesome 6th grader

Kaci our awesome 2nd grader!

And Kole our awesome, don't even make me do what I don't want to do and no way am I going to smile for this picture because it was not my idea.......Transitional Kindergartener

I thought for sure this year he would smile. But now we know that someone made him do something he did not want to do..... so there we have the look we get everyday! Unless of course it is his idea.....

This is at least what I thought he would do.

There you have it!

Kali donates her hair

2007-11-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

I took Kali in today to have her hair cut. She asked me over two years ago how long it had to be to donate. I told her 10 inches. Today she donated FIVE ponytails of ELEVEN inches long!

She was so excited to be doing this to give someone the pleasure of having a wig made for them. Below are some pictures that I took during her day of beauty.

Kali, on our way to the hair dressers.
Kassidy measuring Kali's hair

Five pony tails all measured for cutting

Tails are gone, now for the style

Style and tails!

Mailing off the envelope!

Kali was so excited that some child may have a wig made from her hair.

Halloween is here and gone

2007-11-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

Halloween arrived with all the little goblins and ghouls, princesses, spiderman and superman too! So many little ones out and about with their families going door to door ringing the bell and chanting "Trick or Treat!"

My three were no different. Vivian went out with her friends to enjoy the fun and I took my three out and about for the tick or treat fun.

Kaci, Kali and Kole in their Halloween costumes

Trick or treating

There is a new rhyme now. I remember when I was little the saying to be ornery was "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. "

A little rude, but now the new generations have jazzed it up to:

"Trick or Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. If you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear!"

A little tacky, but funny

Kaci's birthday celebrations

2007-10-28T10:29:00.001-07:00

Kaci turned 8 years old this week. We had a quick cake and candles for her on Thursday between Boyd coming and going. Then Saturday family came down and we had presents here at the house and then off to a pool party at the local school in an indoor pool.

Here are some pictures of event!

Pat and Phil with Kole hiding and Kaci reading
Kaci got some cool gifts at the pool
Kaci very excited over Hannah Montana
PAtty, Mom, Sondra holding Reiko
Kole helping to pick up

Kaci and Kali in the pool
Cupcakes at the pool party
Carson and Kaci best buds
Zoe and Kali

Kaci with her B-day cake
Blowing out the candles
opening presents at home

Kali has received a great honor!!!!!

2007-10-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

Kali brought home an envelope from school today that was addressed to her teacher. Her teacher took her into the hall away from everyone and gave it to her. Apparently she had been nominated by her teacher for her academics, maturity and leadership qualities to attend the National Youth Leadership conference in Washington DC this spring!

Now comes the hard part. Getting the money for air fare to DC and spending money for 6 days, plsu the $1750 for the tuition. We are putting together some ideas for fundraising to get this together before Mare 1. We have to register her by December 15! I can say that there is no way I can have the money by then. But I could by March. I am sure of it!

Any money I would spend on my sugar free candy will go in the till, all the loose change around the house, plus $200 per month from my paycheck. Then I am sure we can come up with more somehow! She really deserves to go! We are proud beyond belief!

WOO HOO!!!!

More pictures

2007-10-21T06:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we attended a fall/Halloween party for foreign exchange students in Central Illinois. It was a beautiful day for a day at the park. We roasted hotdogs, marshmallows and had chilli and many wonderful side dishes and deserts!

Vivian with many other students

Reiko Posing

Kaci and Vivian at the party

Kole as Spiderman fighting off evil.. oh no, Reiko!

Kaci as a belle

Kaci and Kole intheir halloween costumes

REiko in his new leather (fake leather) bomber jacket

Spiderman!

That's it for now!

Photos!

2007-10-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting some photos posted!

Kali in her Halloween costume after teh party she went to
Vivian, Kaci, Kali and Kole ready for Church
Kaci, Kali and Kole being silly
Kole giving us a coy smile
Mia the Dobeman and Reiko the Boston wanting a treat.

More after tomorrow's exchange student party!

Very busy

2007-10-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy with football games, homework, open house, volley ball games, work and life in general. We haven't taken many pictures. Not much time to! Starting this week there is something going on each day for the next two weeks. We are all getting along well and had a taste of fall with some cool crisp weather. We are preparing for Halloween parties and a birthday party. The band has been keeping us busy as has school work. Boyd has taken a second job so we are even busier here. More chores for the kids to take over. The pets are well and so are the kids. Just busier. Will try to get some more pics soon!

What a weekend so far

2007-10-07T07:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday bright and early we were all up and getting ready to leave by 8:00 am. Vivian needed to be at the high school by 8:5 am and we needed to beon the rode by 8:15 am. Vivain was attending an all day band event at the local University for all area high school band students in the area. We were heading to an adoption event out of town. I had scheduled Tony Zhoung and Chen to come talk and share the OCDF marketplace with our adoption group. We arrive a few minutes late due to a traffic jam. Then we findo ut no one is there to let us in and all the doors were locked. After waiting until 10:30 for someone to show up, one of our members suggested we go to her church down the street. We did and all went fine! Good food and fantastic talk from Tony. The marketplace was so much fun to shop in!

We arrived home sometime after 4:30 and Vivian was ready for pickup around 6:30. She agreed that she had a great time!

Here are som pics from our adoption get together.

This is the kids having their lunch while the adults listened to the talk

The adults listening to the talk from Tony.

Just some cute pictures

2007-09-30T07:22:00.001-07:00

Reiko hanging out on the couch

Kole actually looking cute instead of strained!

Kaci dressed up

Vivian dressed up so pretty for the Homecoming dance.

Busy week and having fun!

2007-09-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

The band getting ready to play the star spangled banner to begin the homecoming game.

We have had a busy week wtih it being homecoming week at the high school. They have had a lot of events going on all week long. Tomorow is the last thing in the week of celebration with the homecoming dance. We will drop Vivian off at the school and she will be having fun with friends and one of the moms will bring her home.

Tonight was our homecomiong football game. We may have lost the game, but we won with spirit. Last night was the bon fire. There were dress up days all week long. Vivian was a cat one day. Wore a toga over her clothes another and went as a cartoon character on another day.

The freshman class won the dodge ball game this week. Yeah!

Here are a few pics from tonight.

Kole watching the game, we were not winning

Vivin is the second from the right playing flute

This is Kali and her friend Brook. They are doing Improv together in speech club and they both have the same birthday! They say they are twins!
No pic of Kaci because she was off and about with her friend Carson. I didn't see much of Kali either after this pic because she was off with her friends too. Kole and I spent a couple hours just hanging out watching the game and socializing.

Happy forever family day Kali!

2007-09-23T05:41:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago today we met our daughter Kali. I can still remember the room, the anticipation, the fear that she would not be one of the children there. But she was, content to sit with her Ayi and play with a piece of apple candy in the wrapper. We were almost afraid to touch her in fear that she would cry. I remember our paperwork was handed out wrong. Carolyn, our dear friend and our paperwork for some reason was passed out to eachother wrong. We had Carolyn's and she had ours. I remember Fred being angry about it. But he was the one that did it. We could not read Chinese Characters. But we just acted like it was no big deal and switched and went on. After the signing in the big room in our hotel, we picked up our daughter for the first time. She cried and cried. She was wet and hungry. And BIG! At fourteen months old she was 22 pounds! We met this first daughter of ours in Hefei Anhui province, China. After that first moment, I couldn't let her out of my sight or arms... As tired as they were from holding her. She was scared to death of her daddy. His heart was crushed, but he was determined that she would like him.

Today Kali is not a big girl, but of average height and weight and a wonderful tween with all the things that go with it. She plays clarinet in band and has joined Speech club. She will be playing volley ball this year. No more days of dance class and violin lessons. She loves to hang out wtih her friends and she loves reading books and watching TV.

Heritage Days in our town

2007-09-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

Today ws the big parade of our Heritage days celebration. Our exchange student, Vivian was in the marching band today. The parade lasted for about an hour, which is something for our little town.

Here are some pictures to mark the day!

This an Indian Cheif in the parade

Sydney, Jamie and Kali (from left to right)

Vivian in her band unifor with Kaci, Kali and Kole

Indian group dancing at the festival

More pictures tomorrow! Blogger is acting weird and only letting me down load a few pictures every hour or so.

Happy Forever Family Day Kaci

2007-09-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

Here she is then and now

September 19, 2000

Kaci became our daughter. We had been waiting in our hotel room for the call to go to our facilitator's room to meet our daughter. She was 11 months old and just a little peanut. She could just sit up on her own. She could not hold a bottle but knew what one was for! She was a very sensitive easily upset baby. But she was just as easily made happy.

This year we celebrate having Kaci in our forever family for 7 years!

Sept 18, 2007

Kaci is a happy 2nd grader getting ready to turn 8

and usually the life and laughter of a party.

She is also easily upset as well as easily made happy.

Our Very own Jeff Corwin Experience

2007-09-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

O.k. don't try this at home! It should only be done by a trained professional. This does not mean training by chasing brothers or others with one.

Tonight Kaci advised me that her dad had a snake out in the driveway. I thought she was kidding. So being the curious type person I am, I went to look at it. I had never seen one like this before. Not your everyday Garter snake or even a Blue racer. This one was tan and brown. My thought. "Cool!" so I am going to catch it and take it to someone else's yard so our puppy doesn't hurt it.

Well, the bugger bit me! The little stinker! Boyd is thinking it is poisonous. I am thinking not! The girls are freaking out that I was bit by an unknown snake. So I call the telenurse. Their advice in 20 minutes, go to the emergency room. geez.... it is just a baby.... The bite was as big as this (..) and that might actually be bigger, but because there were two dots... I needed to be seen.

So here I go into the emergency room. I was in and out in 1 hour! That is a record! Found out it was not poisonous, it was a baby corn snake, aka a rat snake. I had 10 minutes of soak in iodine on my finger and now 5 days of antibiotics because snakes carry bacteria in their mouths. Now you have heard about my Jeff Corwin Experience! I guess you could say, "I'm no Jeff Corwin!"

The baby corn snake in the mop bucket.

Picnic with Lifelink

2007-09-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

We went to a picnic today with our adoption agency. We always look forward to this social gathering. We met up with the Radmacher's, Mannifor's, Schmidt's, Wright's, Susan with BeiLee and more!

We took a few pictures on the way and during.

Here are a few pics of our day!

Everyone had a good time and lots of good fun and food.

On the way!!

Kids in the Serenity Garden

Vivian, Kole, Kali, and Kaci

Kali's friend Logan is looking on in the background

Kole decided to have his faced painted.

He is going to be Spiderman

Vivian, me, Boyd

Kali, Kaci and Spiderman,,, I mean Kole

Kaci can prove she is a citizen

2007-09-13T18:58:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Boyd took Kaci to Chicago to the Dept of Homeland Security so she could receive her certificate of Citizenship. Kaci was an automatic citizen back in Sept 2000 when we adopted her, but we had no way to prove she was a citizen. Now she can if it is ever necessary.

They were given permission to take this one photo outside the building as long as there were no identifying marks etc.

Then they were on their way home. Boyd came down sick during the day and went to the doctor today.

Kali is joining Speech Team at school. I think she will be fabulous. She is going to Improv and Story Telling. I think she will have no trouble at all getting along with it.

Kole told us last night that he is learning to read and that he likes to learn. We can only hope he learns that hurting the puppy whether intentionally or not is bad. Tonight he was mad at something and he layed on the puppy, hurting him. So, we had a talk about it. Then he was to stay away from the puppy for the rest of the night.

Vivian is doing well. Homecoming is the last week of September with a dance on the 29th. She will be going with a few friends from school. Her and Kali have become good friends. I think she is amused by Kaci and still trying to take in Kole. ha ha ha kind of like us! ha ha ha

Me, I am doing fine. just trying to keep up with it all.

Sunday orientation cookout

2007-09-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

I think it is safe to say all of us had a wonderful time a the Winfrey residence for the orientation and cookout. There were nearly 20 exchange students with their host families in attendance.

The weather was beautiful and apparently the lake water was great. Several students took an unexpected dip when the canoe they were in tipped over! LOL All were good sports.

I am including some pictures that were taken that day.

Group picture of all exchange students

Vivian, Jill and Joy, all from Taiwan

It did turn out a bit dark due to the shade

Vivian and Joy laughing it up

Kaci grooving with MP3 player with students in the background.

Kali getting her pic taken

Kole was no where to be found for pictures. Too busy hanging on Boyd, I think.

Another week of school is gone

2007-09-08T15:21:00.001-07:00

On Monday, since there was no school, so I took all the girls to the mall! This of course after I stopped in and upgraded our cellphones. Then we went to lunch at Buffet King, a Chinese/American food buffet. The food was good. We spent several hours at the mall going through stores and just looking around. Then it was time for Kali and Kaci to try on clothes just for fun! Of course I came away with an outfit for Kaci that she just won't get for he birthday.

Kali and Kaci each had their own money to spend and did pretty well. Vivian enjoyed looking around at all the stuff. We stopped for lattes and hot chocolate and joked around a lot.

After the mall we headed over to Sam's club to pick up some snacks for Kaci and Kole to take to school the next day.

On Wednesday Vivian went home with a friend from school and then to a youth group get together at her friend's church. I was not worried with this at all since the girl is the daughter of a friend of mine who used to watch my girls before and after school a few years ago. Vivian will be going to this every Wednesday.

Most of the week was pretty normal with school work and just trying to keep up. On Thursday we went to the first home volleyball game to see some of ours and Vivian's new friends play. VERY Good game! Of course our team won! YEAH!

Friday we kind of hung out here at home and watched TV and played around with downloading music. It was supposed to rain.

Saturday (today) I took the two youngest, Kaci and Kole to the doctor. They had been coughing for about a week. So in we went. An hour and a half later Kaci has bronchitis and a wheeze and Kole has bronchitis and a sinus infection! Great! The first week of school and harvesting started so there you have it!

Tomorrow we are going to an Exchange student host family/student orientation cookout. It should be a lot of fun! There is going to be about 75 - 100 people there!
I think Kali wants to start attending the youth group at the christian church on Sunday evenings and we thought about having Vivian attend some for her age group. That is entirely up to her.

We are really enjoying having Vivian with our family this school year! Each week a little more of her personality comes out and she is becoming more relaxed.

On Thursday, at the volleyball game at the school, one her teachers told me how wonderful it was for her to have Vivian in her class and complimented Vivian on her English capabilities. The teacher said that Vivian was one of the few exchange students she has taught to actually apply the English effectively that she has learned prior to becoming an Exchange student.

Well, that's all for now! Hopefully tomorrow I will have some photos to share.

Surprise from Grandma and updates

2007-09-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

Vivian has been with us a week and so far all is going well from our side. I am hoping that she is not thinking we are too weird.... ha ha ha ha
We do have a bit of a zoo here. ha ha ha

On Friday we went to the first home varsity Football game in the new stadium in Athens. IT was packed! There was no where to sit to watch. We didn't lose too badly.

Saturday we went to a Hurricane survival party at a friend's home. That was fun with lots of really good food!

Grandma came today, Sunday, while I and the girls were at church. She had a surprise which has really been good for the kids to get them outside and playing again. A Tramopline! I wondered if she was going to do it or not since she had mentioned it several times. All the kids are loving it! Reiko really likes it too. He gets a little too wild on it. He has to be taken away after a while.

My two girls are fighting over space in the bed that is the same size of one they slept in together before. I never realized, or maybe I did, how spoiled they really are. This sharing and welcoming a student into our home will hopefully teach them to not take so much for granted.

We attended a contemporary service at the Christian Church and it was very enjoyable. We all knew several families there. Maybe attending church regularly will help also.

Tomorrow I am taking all three girls with me to go to the Mall and wander around and grab a snack. We are also going to get a prepaid SIM card for Vivian and pick up snacks for the Kole and Kaci to take to their class for morning snack. We will also be getting the safetly net up and on the trampoline so we do not have any dives off the trampoline.

Vivan, our exchange student from Taiwan

Kids on the new trampoline

More kid fun on the trampoline

Many updates

2007-08-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

School has started and the kids are having a blast! They are so much more settled with the routine going on. O.k. so our routine is not really there yet.
This past Sunday, we welcomed our first Foreign Exchange student into our home. Vivian is 15 years old and from Taiwan. We are very lucky to have her with us for the school year.

Let's start on some updates.

Kole: He is attending Transitional Kindergarten. When we ask about his day, he talks abut the playing he does and lunch. he also talks about the number o times they go outside to play and all the new friends he is making. So, sounds like his teacher is doing well by him. He doesn't even realize he is learning! We are going to put Kole into basketball this winter for a couple months to see if he likes it. Then in the spring possibly baseball.

Kaci: She is in 2nd grade this year and is happy to have the teacher she was assigned. It worked giving her a teacher that assisted during the basketball season last year. She has homework every night. Basically to reinforce what they learned that day. Kaci loves having homework to do. She has also been practicing her basketball and doing very well with her new piano teacher. Kaci will continue with basketball this winter. That will be fun to watch this year.

Kali: Kali is liking 6th grade. She is not looking forward to all the homework, but loves her homeroom teacher! She also is glad to be having a new band director this year. Today though, Kali had some minor eye lid surgery to help to aspirate an infected oil gland. She seems to be popping back pretty quick, but not as quick as when she was 2. Kali, sadly is losing her interest in violin now that she has to do more than before. She also plays clarinet and would like to learn another wind instrument or piano. She really wants to play volleyball this year, also.

Vivian: She is sweet and shy, so far. She will start school on Thursday and ride the bus with the kids and get off at their daycare with them. She may even be able to help play with some of the kids. One of the students in her class lives right down the street from us. That is a very good thing!

Boyd and Shannon: We are doing well and getting used to school being back in session. We will try to post pictures later!

Updates and one more week til school

2007-08-18T05:09:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy summer and a fun summer too. It is sad to see it end, but we are SO HAPPY to see the kids going back to school next week! YEAH! They are glad to be going back if for no other reason than to get to go some where that their friends are.

Kole has really blossomed this summer. Do boys blossom? hmmm O.k. maybe it should say that Kole has really come into himself this summer.

He forgot to do something that could have made another child really sick and I don't mean not covering his mouth. anyway, the daycare provider (we love her!) removed him from the XBox and put him in a timeout while she cleaned up the mess that followed.
When her daughter tried the next day to let him play with the XBox, he told her "I can't play with it until next week". When she asked why, the daycare provider just said, "He needs to remember to do certain things before he can play the Xbox again." He is grounded om it for 1 week. If he forgets to do this certain thing, the week starts over. He loves her XBox. We do not have one and we do not let him play video games here because a fight starts and he gets too aggressive about it. At daycare he shares fine at home he does not.

Our next news is that next Saturday we are welcoming a foreign exchange student from
Taiwan into our home for the school year. She will be learning about our culture while we learn some about hers. If all goes well, next year we will do it again, and bring in a girl from China. Hopefully we will have the fourth bedroom in place by then! this time all three girls will be in a room together. With set times for each of them to have quiet alone time there.

The work begins today to start clearing out the back room to start making room to rip up carpet and add a sub floor, new windows, and a different door to the back room. Plus duct work needs to be run out there and a wall put up so that we can still let dogs inside during the winter.

That's all the news for now!

Kids having fun with a camera

2007-08-07T04:27:00.001-07:00

Kali purchased herself a new camera with her birthday money and has had a blast and so have the others. Here are some of her fun photos!

Kaci and her friend Jalina

Kole peace to you all

Kaci in a very messy bedroom

Reiko aka Reiko Suave

Kali and Kaci

Tasha aka Fuzzy face

Mia aka Princess Mia

Tinkerbell aka Tinkie Winkie

Referral day anniversary weekend

2007-08-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend has marked a couple of life changing events in our lives.
First, today August 4 marks our 7th anniversary of learning about our second daughter, Kaci.
We found out she was in Dianbai, Guangdong and that she was at the time 10 months old and 17 pounds and 27 inches long. She has come a long way!

Referral pic Kaci

Kaci now

Second, but actually our first life altering experience was on August 5, 1997 we received our referral for our first daughter Kali. This will be the 10 th anniversary of the call that changed our lives forever for the better. She was described as a chubby cherub, there was no current information on height or weight and a medical exam that was done when she was 4 months old. At the time of the call she was 13 months old. She too has come a long way. When we met she was 22 pounds and 21 inches tall.

Referral pic Kali

Kali Now at her 11th B-day

Pictures

2007-07-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Birthday pics!
Kole and Uncle Dana
Kali and Kole with Kaci looking on

Swimming Lessons

Kole with instructor
Kole to jump in the pool

That's all!

Swimming, Birthdays, and teeth

2007-07-23T04:14:00.000-07:00

A lot has been going on this month. A regular circus here! Kole started swimming lessons at a local indoor pool and has been loving it! Kaci went along just in case he was nervous and is loving it too. Of course Kali is afraid they will ask her about swim team again. Kaci wants to be on swim team next year, so it follows that Kali will be doing it too. Maybe even Kole depending on how well he does this fall and winter catching up on the different strokes.

Kali had a birthday and turned 11 this year. She will be starting 6th grade. We had a quiet cake and ice cream at home, then went up to Grandma's for a family party there. She was very excited about her party.

While at Grandma's, Kole lost his first tooth. Then the second one came out at home the next day. So it will be a double tooth fairy visit. Of course the first one had a little help from Uncle Pat. He gave it a little push and it was just hanging. It was loose to begin with. Kali has one last baby tooth just hanging there and she is not about to give it up. Giving it up means growing up to her. She is just not ready to grow up. I told her she doesn't have to grow up, just do what is expected of her. She is still a little girl.

We stopped and visited with Great Grandma on the way home and had a very enjoyable visit. When it came time to go, we all were giving her hugs and kisses and then Kole said Ewww! about giving her a kiss. He would readily do it with all our previous visits. He has now decided that it is icky to kiss old ladies. Of course Grandma took it in stride. Boyd made him give her a peck on the cheek. Might not have been the right thing to do, but Kole needed to know it was not nice to say Ewww when it is time to tell Grandma goodbye.

Reiko went with us on this trip and he traveled very good. He was even a very well behaved house guest at my mom's house. I think he was ready to come home. Everyone was wanting to hold him and walk him and hold his leash etc. He was teased and scared by the older kids and we had to get down on them a couple times to leave the pup alone. Hopefully it was not too impressionable on him. It is said that if something happens to a pup to really scare them at his age it will stay with them for life. Oh boy... Hopefully he does not get all scared and unsure of tall boys.

Pictures later

Vacation fun!

2007-07-03T15:49:00.001-07:00

On Monday we took the kids to Chicago! They had a wonderful time as did we. We went to Grant Park and walked along the waterfront. Then we headed to Chinatown. We had milkshakes and tea at Saint's Alp Teahouse. Very YUMMY! We did some window shopping and just walking around enjoying the area. Kali and Kaci felt so at home and comfortable there that we plan to make that trip again!

Mom and the kids Dad is taking the photo this time
The kids are dwarfed by this huge ship!
Walking down thru Chinatown
Kaci wearing Kali's new hat.
Kali wearing her new hat and Kaci's sunglasses
All three kids on our way home.

On Tuesday we went to St. Louis and visted City Museum. If you want a fun place where kids can be kids and nothing can break, except in the gift shop, then this is the place. The kids climbed all through adn around all the stuff. Everything is made from recycled stuff. It is soo cool!

Kids crawling through indoor tubes made of steel.
Bus hanging off the top of the museum
Slide from an upper point into an old firetruck
Large praying Mantis on the roof
Kids on our way home after all the next

Kali and Boyd
Kaci and Kole
Shannon and Kaci
Boyd and the kids climbed up into this airplane fuselage
That is Kole in the cage, Boyd and the girls are getting ready to follow him to the slide

Picture of the arch on our way into St. Louis
Shannon adn the kids on the third level
Kaci swinging on the tarzan swing while Kole and KAci wait their turn
Kole and Kali in the Skateboard park

This was the most fun the kids have had so far on our vacation!

Only one trial and that was when Kole banged his moutho n a metal bar becasue he was not looking the direction he was going. Cut his lip and the staff here was very good at getting us to first aid and getting the bleeding stopped and an icepack. In ten minutes he was off and going again!

Fishing trip

2007-06-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

The first of our vacation fun has started! We took all three kdis fishing at the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Park. They had a blast. We took Reiko along with us. We did a catch and release fishing trip.

We had many tribulations. As sson as we get there, a guy at the boat ramp is stuck, so Boyd volunteers to help him out. Well, Boyd ended up hooking my Pntiac Motana van to a Dodge 4 x4 and pulled it out of the slick stuff on the ramp so they could pull their boat out. Yup, the power of a Pontiac.

While Boyd was helpinig with the stuck truck, I was putting hooks, split shots and bobbers on three poles for the kids and getting the worms on the hooks and getting them cast off. Plus we were all eating our sandwiches.

We cast Kole's out and within a minute or less he caught the first fish, a blue gill, then Kaci caught a blue gill. Boyd was jsut returning when Kole caught his first fish. A girl about 14 took the fish off the hook. I don't do fish off the hooks. I will put a worm on there, but I am not touching the fish. Well, Kaci's swallowed the hook, so the uncle of the girl that took the fish off, got that out and the worm was still in tact!

Kole's first catch of the day
Kaci's first catch of the day

Kali's first catch of the day The smallest catch of the day

Kali came up with the third fish, then Kole caught another. Kaci's bobber went flying off the line, it was fished out successfully. Then Kali was using my pole and when you would cast out it woudl get stuck, so I pulled the line and there it went! The line was gone! I still had the pole.

Boyd fished that out with Kaci's pole. Whew!

Then a little girl dropped her pole in the water!!! Boyd was still on a roll and was able to fish it out of the lake! Yeah for Boyd! He also spent a good amount of time untangling fishing line and hooks. What a mess. After two hours and Bod nor I had a moment to drop a line or read a page in a book we headed home. The kids caught 1 crappie (Kali), 1 bass (Kole), and all three caught a total of 8 blue gill.

Kole enjoynig the fun
Kaci kicking back
Kali posing with fish salad!

Reiko really enjoyed himself too. He chased flopping fish and tried to grab worms on hooks. Ouch that would have hurt!

Reiko guarding the sandwich

We stopped on the way home to get a picture of Kali by a field of sunflowers. It reminded me of the first day she was home sitting on our porch with a sunflower.

Kali first day home in October 1997

Kali now just a few months shy of 10 years home

All in all we had a very successful fishing trip. The kids had fun and so did we!

Monster trucks

2007-06-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

Kole and Boyd attended the Monster truck Jamboree today and had a blast!

Here are some pics from that fun time.

Kole standing by the Grave digger

Kole standing by the Raminator

Kole standing by a '69 Chevy

Kole standing by a '32 Deuce

Kole by a red chevy/

There are no pics of the two guys together, but I am assured they had a good time. Kole has a Grave digger T-shirt now that he will be able to wear for years since it comes down to his knees!

We've had Kole home 15 months

2007-06-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

Kali and Kaci ready for Sunday School
Then add Kole who thinks he is ready for Sunday school too.

It has been 15 months since we stepped off a plane from China and came home with our new son. Some days it feels like we are still babysitting a kid who never leaves and other days it as if he has always been here. So that tells me we are getting closer to that time where it will feel like he has been with us forever every day. Some things that we have learned are

1. If he is hungry or tired he will antaganize until someone including parents loses their temper.

2. If you say you will be doing something and it does not happen right away, he will lose his temper and lash out physically.

3. If given even an inch he will take a mile

4. His dad is his favorite and gets extremely angry if even the dog sits on dad's lap.

5. If he can gethis sisters to chase him, it is his best game of all

We have also noticed the following:

1. He is cute and funny

2. He is very smart

3. He is very imaginative

4. He can be very caring

5. He likes to snuggle (only with daddy)

6. He likes to ride his bike

7. He likes to run

8. He likes to be tickled and to tickle

9. He likes karate class

10. his favorite food is anything with a lot of sugar!

11. If offered rice that is all he will eat so give him meat and veggies first.

He will also wear long pants and long sleeved shirts when it is 99 degrees out.

Today Boyd is taking Kole to the monster truck show if it does not rain all day again. Kole was mad because they did not go yesterday while it was raining all day. So, he lashed out at Boyd which was totally un called for. He managed a sneak attack and kicked Boyd in his back adn kept pushing on him until Boyd had to discipline him. It was cleared up when I got home from the grocery store, but we had to have a talk about venting in another way. I'm not sure it came across to him, but he knew it was wrong. Kole does show a total lack of respect for his father. I think he just stays away from me unless no one else is around.

Here are some pics taken the night before. Kaci was at her first sleep over with a friend without her sister with her. So I will try to get some of her today to add later.

Kole with Kali and pups Mia and Reiko
Kole and Mia with Reiko looking on
Kali and Reiko
Kole "in your face" picture.

It's HOT outside!

2007-06-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well, the kids have been either in the pool or lazing around the house. It has been very hot here. i took smoe time off work the other day for a couple appointments and then we took the kids to the county fair. I should have taken the camera, but we were running behind and I totally forgot to grab it on the way out the door. This was Kole's first time attending a fair. He rode several rides including the bumper cars with his sister and the carosel and the ferris wheel. He rode as many as he was tall enough to do. He had a funnel cake for the first time. We knew he would like it! It is nothing more than deep fat fried pancake batter with powdered sugar. He loved it! Kali rode on several rides that Kole was not allowed to. Kaci joined them, of course. I stayed back and kept Kole riding rides. After a couple of hours in the heat we had enough and headed home. Kali was complaining of not feeling well and when we arrived home,. I pushed the fluids on her. Well, that didn't help. We took her to the doctor and we found out that she had strep throat. Well, today she is full of it! Her appetite is back and she is almost her old self. Kaci is wound up too. She was able to wake up Kole from his nap.
We went to a yard sale/bake sale today to help a family to adopt from Vietnam. A very lovely family they are. There were also some really good deals to be found.
Nothing too exciting happening around here. Just the regular daily stuff going on.

We introduced Reiko to Mia and Tasha and all went really well. Mia wasn't too sure of this bouncy little bugger, but Tasha was ready to play! We had them all on leashes and let them do their sniffing thing. Tinkerbell has been bringing us gifts. Half eaten crittes that she has caught. She is such a gross kitty!

Sorry no pictures this time! Maybe next time!

A little early but Happy Father's day to Boyd

2007-05-28T08:12:00.001-07:00

The kids and I decided that Daddy deserved a really good present this year for Father's day and we found it early and gave it to him.

Happy Father's Day Boyd!

Puppy checking out the other two dogs.
Puppy was trying to get the beer.

Yes, it is a Boston Terrier. Boyd has wanted one for years. He had one when we met 25 years ago. So, we had the opportunity and the price was right so here he is. Yes, a little boy. He is 10 weeks old and very smart already. So far, Mia is very unconcerned with him. Tasha just has her same "hey there is a dog in my yard!" Tinkerbell the cat is "Oh no not again!"

In a few days we will introduce one at a time to the little whipper snapper. We are still working on a name. Some ideas have been Dodger (Kali and Kole's favorite), Java, Rusty Rico, or just plain Rico (Reeko). We are going to get him a small crate and harness and leash today. Boyd is totally thrilled. He picked him out of the three that were left. The pup is black (with some rusty brindle markings) and white. The brindle is not showing up very good in the pictures.

Kole can ride a bike!

2007-05-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

Well, he has been able to ride with training wheels for a year now, but Friday Boyd removed the training wheels and we had success immediately! He was ready. Saturday morning before anyone was even dressed he wanted to ride his bike. Same with Sunday. He has the same restrictions Kaci and Kali had when they learned. One of us needs to be present before he can leave the driveway. He is getting a lot better about getting out of the street if a car comes.

Daddy giving him a push
Oops! That's a tree!
And there he goes!

We also took the kids to the Old State Capital Art fair and let them shop in the Children's tent. They each purchased two pieces of art for $5.00 each. Then we found a wonderful Artist from Wisconsin who does Chinese Brush painting. We hope to be able to afford more of her work later. I did buy one print of Springtime in China for $25 that fits in an 8 x 10.

The kids really enjoyed their shopping.

Only 1 full week of school left! Then a very sporadic week and the kids are out!
It has been another beautiful weekend!