Aminah's Christmas Program

Aminah had her Christmas Program at the Preschool and she was very excited. She had practiced her song and we invited "Bubba", Ashli, and "Baby Dane." Here is a really cute picture of Aminah and Dane (her step-cousin or her uncle's grandson or something like that) :)

Halloween Party at Preschool

At the beginning of the month Aminah's teacher at preschool asked for parents to donate items for their Halloween party. I didn't sign up at the time because there were quite a few parents already signed up and I usually will do about 3 out of the 4 parties. I had already spent quite a bit of extra money on the school fundraiser earlier in the month and felt I had to bow out of it this time. There were plenty of other parents that had signed up and all of the slots eventually were filled. As the month went on the teacher wrote "Thank You" next to each parent that had brought in their donations, so I knew that it was being taken care of. Earlier this week I received a note on the sign-in sheet asking if I could bring in either a large bag of candy or 12 toys. I ignored the little note, feeling that they already had plenty from what I had seen coming into the room. Then the day before Halloween there was another note from the teacher asking me again to either bring in 12 toys or a large bag of candy. I had arrived early enough to speak with the teacher and told her that I wasn't going to be able to do it this month. I told her I had looked through my "gift cupboard" at home and found 6 toys but didn't have 12 and she said, "well we just want to make sure that the kids have enough stuff." I felt pressured, but knew the kids would have plenty of stuff, so I didn't bring anything in. Well as it turns out I was right. When Aminah came home on Halloween day she had 67 items in her bag! Here is a list of all that she brought home:
Candy:
4 Smarties, 6 Tootsie Rolls, 3 Sour Punch, 3 Lolly Pops, 3 Starburst, 1 Nerds, 1 Dots, 3 Snickers, 3 M&Ms, 2 Almond Joy, 2 Hershey, 4 KitKat,
Other Edible Items:
1 Cookie, 1 Fruit Snack, 1 Rice Crispy
Toy Items:
1 large container of Play Dough, 1 Sponge Bob Pen with Etch-A-Sketch, 2 Eye Patches, 1 Pumpkin Sticker, 3 Spider Rings, 1 Butterfly Pen, 1 Bat Straw, 4 Lip Whistles, 1 braclet, 2 Stamps, 1 Ball and Jack set, 1 Rubber Rat, 1 Rubber Lizard, 1 Parachute Pumpkinman, 1 Bottle of Bubbles, 1 Fake Finger, 2 Chinese Yo-Yos, 1 Pumpkin Whistle, 1 Fake Gun, and 1 Glow Stick
So as you can see I wrote it all down, because I was quite amazed. I'm so glad I didn't contribute MORE to their plethora of stuff. (How often do you get to use a word like plethora? - means overabundance)

Flower Girls

Aminah was in her first wedding today. She was a flower girl with her best friend Linsey. The girls were adorable and took their job very seriously. Aminah's teacher just got married a few weeks ago and so Aminah knows a real flower girl. She was able to share all kinds of information about what a flower girl does and what kinds of things a flower girl has. Apparently, flower girls get a coloring book when they are done. Unfortunately, the bride didn't have this bit of knowledge because there was no coloring book. Also it appears that flower girls are supposed to wear white instead of brown. Again the bride wasn't aware of this rule either. Another mistake the bride made was that she didn't have flowers for the girls to wear in their hair. I guess the bride didn't know much about weddings because Aminah also noted that the bride didn't wear a veil. Next time you need a wedding consultant just ask Aminah, because it seems she "knows" a LOT about how weddings are supposed to be, even though this was her first wedding.

Complete Sentences

At school I am teaching my students to use complete sentences. It is something that is following me home. I have found myself numerous times telling Aminah to use a complete sentence. Here is a sample of how that is going.
Aminah: Mommy ask me how many sides a circle has.
Mommy: Aminah, how many sides does a circle have?
Aminah: None
Mommy: Use that in a complete sentence.
Aminah: Hey Mommy none.
Mommy says with a smile: You are so smart!

It wasn't exactly the complete sentence I was hoping for, but it sure was cute!

Now What?

I've been waiting for 11 1/2 months now for the Vietnam adoption. I knew it would be a long journey and that it would be filled with ups and downs. Today Vietnam officially closed adoptions to the United States. What now? Well until Vietnam and the United States can come to an agreement (called the Memo of Understanding - MOU), adoptions will NOT be happening. I still have quite a few people ahead of me before my number is even an issue. Let's say that Vietnam and the United States were to make an agreement by the end of the year, I would still be on the waiting list for about another 100 or more people ahead of me. That doesn't mean that things would move quickly then either. I have moved up about 100 people in the last year, but only because people knew that Vietnam was closing so they started looking elsewhere. Now I need to decide, if I'm going to look elsewhere or if I'm going to continue to wait for something that might not happen. If I continue to wait then I will have to renew my current homestudy and my fingerprints, and I will probably have to do that a few times before this is through. Lots to think about. On the bright side, Aminah continues to be her amazing self. I'm lucky to have her and know that if God wants us to be a family of 2, then at least we are a terrific team.

Gotta Love Preschool!

This Thursday I got a call from Aminah's preschool. I had sent her to school with the sniffles and a cough so I thought that was going to be the call. Ms. Stephanie told me how much she liked me as a parent and wanted to make sure that after this call I didn't hate her. I was a little worried at this point about what she was going to say. She told me that Aminah had lice. OH! I totally didn't see that one coming. I told her I was on my way. That is when the fun began. I had Back-To-School-Night that evening and had to get ready for that. My head was totally trying to figure out what I was going to do about the LICE. Terri was going to Walgreens so she picked up the special shampoo and when I got home at 8:30, we began the process. I knew it was going to be a process, but I had no idea how much laundry I would go through over the next few days. We have pretty much been able to control the eggs and there was only one bug (the one they found at school). Hopefully on Tuesday she will be egg free and will be able to go back to school. I guess we will have to continue to check her daily for two weeks and we will also have to do another round of the shampoo 7 - 10 days later. No problem, I really don't want this to ever happen again. Aminah has a great attitude and the only time I saw her slightly upset was when she was at school and all the kids were running up to me telling me, "Aminah has bugs in her hair." She had such a sad look on her face at that point. I told each child that I knew and I would handle it. The look on Aminah's face when I calmly told them that was a little of relief. The rest of the process hasn't been tramatic for her at all. I can't wait to see my water bill and electric bill because of all the extra laundry that is being done in HOT water. It will be worth it, if I can have a bug/egg free household.

3 Amazing Years

Three years ago today Aminah and I became a family. God sent me half way around the world so that I could be her mommy and she could be my daughter. What would my life had been like if I didn't go where He called me to go? I wouldn't know how much HE loved me. He must think I'm pretty special, because he let me be this little girl's mother. There just aren't enough words to express my thankfulness for having this little one in my life. This week I was talking with Aminah's teacher from last year. She was telling me that she noticed that Aminah was a very caring little girl. Whenever someone is crying she comes over and tries to comfort them. She is always willing to share with others. She thinks about others and likes to make presents for people. She is compassionate and loving. I am a very blessed mommy. The last three years really have been amazing.

Olympics in China

Tonight Aminah and I watched the opening ceremonies of the olympics. I wasn't sure if Aminah would be interested or not. She is used to cartoons. I told her that I wanted to watch the olympics on TV because they were in China. She wasn't really interested at first (she was busy on the INTERNET - more on that later). She saw a group of people running and then it showed the Great Wall of China. She said, "They are all running to get them babies." She knows that when I went to China I saw the Great Wall and then got my baby. She made a connection.
So back to the fact that my 4 year old is on the INTERNET. I've taken her to a few websites that are designed for kids. PBS has a great site with all of her "friends" that she sees on TV. I usually will man the keyboard and mouse because she is young. I don't have a real mouse set up on my laptop so I thought it would be too difficult for her to use the touchpad. Well, I was wrong. Tonight I wanted to get some housework done and she wanted to play on the computer. I set her up on one easy PBS game that she wouldn't have to do much with the mouse and started getting things done. I came back and she was switching to other games and was able to use the touchpad! Children of the Digital Age.

Colorado June 2008

I'm finally able to upload pictures from Colorado. I tried earlier this summer and had technical difficulties. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I'll try to get some more summer pictures loaded before summer is over.

Check out my Slide Show!

My New Year's Resolution

My New Year's Resolution was to blog every week. As you can see that didn't happen. It seemed like such an easy thing to follow through on. I'm so far behind I'm not sure how to catch up. Things won't even be in order. I guess I need to look at my pictures and see if anything makes for a worthy blog post. I'll check back soon. No really I will.

Re-Adoption Day

It was a fantastic day. I left school early and picked up Aminah. We came home and got ready. Our appointment was at 1:30. Why did they have to schedule it during nap time? Anyway, I had invited a few friends to join us, but because it was during the school day I didn't really think anyone would be able to make it. I called my dad's house and talked to my stepmom and she said she would see if they could make it. So when I got to the courthouse I was surprised that they were there. Also Libby called and said that she was going to make it. When she arrived she Diane with her. Another nice surprise. When we were walking up to the building Aminah asked, "Is this the orphanage?" I guess she was a little confused. No telling what was going on in that little mind of hers. I tried to explain a little better. So we had to wait a little while, but then the bailiff called us in, and we were the only family there. Aminah and I had to sit at the "Plaintiff" chairs. There was a microphone that Aminah found right away and started playing with it. She thought she was something else. The judge finally asked the bailiff to move the microphone for the technical guy's sake. The judge asked a few questions and then said that he approved. We signed the papers and it was official. In reality it was official in China, but this Adoption Day is so that Aminah can have a birth certificate stating that I AM HER MOTHER. We took pictures with the judge and that was it. I invited everyone to go have ice cream with us. Yummy. We had some errands to run afterwards so Aminah never did get her nap. On the way home, she fell asleep. Poor little thing was exhausted. All in all it was a great day.

Zacchaeus and College

So Aminah knows about Zacchaeus in the bible. We have some Bible Heroes flash cards. Last night we were going through the flashcards and came upon Zacchaeus. I unfortunately didn't remember anything about this particular person. Aminah took one look and saw the tree behind him and said, "He climbed in a tree to see Jesus." Well I thought she was just making things up, but I read about him on the back and that is in fact what happened. Wow, I asked her if she learned that at church or at school and she told me, "Ms. Rachel told me." I love the fact that she learns so much about the bible at school.
Today I asked her if she was going to go to college when she grew up. She said, "I dunno." I asked her if she was going to be a teacher or a doctor, and she said, "We will just have to see."

Shy but talkative

Aminah is so shy around other people, but she will talk up a storm around me. Today she was telling me about her school. It has been raining some lately and she was talking about how she loves the rain. She said, "You know they are called rain drops." I told her that yes, I did know that. I asked her if she is able to go outside when it was raining at school. She said if it is just "a little bit rainy" then they do, but if it is "a lot rainy" then they don't. I asked what they did if it was "a lot rainy" and she said they stay inside. Then she continued to tell me that if they go outside and it has rained a lot then they can't go on the grass because it is too slippy. So they have to wait until the grass isn't slippy anymore. I told her that that was the way it was at my school also, and she said, "Yes, I know that." I know that wasn't a very interesting conversation for most people, but for me . . . it makes me realize that she knows what's going on around her and she is taking it all in. She is able to tell people all about something that is important to her. I better be careful with my conversations around her. If she is able to tell me this much, she probably tells an earful to the preschool teachers also. I love when she will tell a story and then tell me at the end, "and that is the end of the story, THE END."

Chinese New Year

We have been pretty busy with Chinese New Year celebrations, but I think we are finally done. I sent things to Aminah's class, taught about Chinese New Year in my class, ate Chinese food, rode a train to Chinatown and saw the dragon parade, and attended a Chinese New Year dinner. It has been a lot of fun, but we have been extremely busy.

Airplanes

Aminah and I were in the car tonight and she saw an airplane. She told me that the plane was going to get its baby. I waited for more of the story, and she continued to tell me that it was going to the "air fort" and it was going to get its baby. I asked where it was going to get its baby from and she said, "China." She then started to tell me that babies come from China and you have to go to the air fort and get on the plane and get the baby. Ooops I guess we have watched her "Gotcha Day" video way too many times. That is basically how her story begins on the video. We are at the airport and I say to the other adopting parents, "Let's get on that plane and go get those babies." She loves watching her story!

Amazing

This morning Aminah and I were watching cartoons in bed and a commercial came on for a purse. The people in the commercial showed how much "stuff" could fit in the purse. They dumped out the contents of their previous purse and organized it into the new purse and even added a water bottle and an umbrella. So I asked Aminah if she liked that purse because she was watching every second of the commercial and she replied, "No it is too AMAZING." I laughed, then later I saw the commercial again and thought maybe they used the word "amazing" in the commercial, but they didn't. I guess she really thought it was too good to be true and was just "too amazing."

Aminah's Rooms

I wanted to show off some of my painting (because maybe Aminah comes by it naturally). Aminah's bedroom is painted with a garden theme and the playroom has a scene on one of the walls. Aminah has a dream playroom (well as much of a dream as you can have in a 10 x 10 space. I love doing painting and if I ever move I will be sad to see the rooms repainted. Then again that would give me new "canvas" to work with at a new location. Actually a very good friend helped me with the playroom and gave me the confidence to do it on my own when it came to Aminah's room. What Aminah doesn't realize is that eventually she will have to share her rooms as well as her stuff, and most of all HER MOMMY!

Budding Artist

So this doesn't look like the artwork of a 3 1/2 year old. Aminah was working one day on her art easel and I hear her talking about whiskers, eyes, mouth, nose. When I went in to see what she was making I was amazed to see a cat that she painted. I know I'm just a proud parent, but you have to admit it is pretty good.

Second Grade Standards

The teacher in me is very impressed with my daughter. There have been quite a few things lately that have come up in conversations with Aminah that make me realize she is understanding some of the second grade standards better than my students. I'm not sure if this makes me a great mom, or a terrible teacher but here goes.
Plurals - We are in the car talking about Dora and Boots (Dora's monkey) and Aminah informs me that we can't call him Boots because, "he is only one, so we have to call him Boot." Pretty impressive!
Synonmyms - Lulu (the dog) is outside and for some reason she is licking the ground. Aminah sees this and says, "Lulu stop licking the ground, that is yucky, it's 'gusting and gross. So stop licking the ground Lulu."
Nutrition - "Mommy when you eat and drink the food goes in your tummy and comes out in the potty as poop."
Synonyms - We are driving in the car and I'm talking to my friend on the cell phone. Aminah is in the backseat and I'm talking about her coat for some reason and Aminah says, "It isn't a coat, it's a jacket!" My friend tells me to tell her they are synonyms. So I tell her "They are synonyms. They mean the same thing, jacket and coat mean the same thing." She says, "uuuuhhh, you are giving me a headache."
So maybe I'm pushing too much.

Aminah and Luke's First Date

Well Aminah had her first date with Luke. The day before Linsey and Aminah had a day together so yesterday was the day that Luke got his day with Aminah. His mother and I are always joking about Luke and Aminah getting married. Luke's older sister Amy was teasing Luke that he was going to kiss his "girlfriend" on New Year's Eve. Well in one of these pictures you can see what Luke thought of Aminah stealing a kiss. They really do like each other and aren't worried about how they look while eating fettucini.

Enchanted Slide Show!

Enchanted New Year

I hope everyone has an Enchanted New Year! Aminah and I went with Aunt Libby and Linsey to see the movie Enchanted at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. It was an adorable movie. Aminah wasn't as impressed as I was. I guess I should have previewed it before taking my 3 year old to it. Live and learn. At least it gave us some real bonding time, seeing as she wouldn't leave my lap and spent much of the movie with her head covered. Poor thing. Yes, she slept fine last night just in case you are wondering. So I don't recommend the movie for preschoolers but for those of us that are a little more mature it was so worth it. After the movie we went "backstage" to see the Disney Princesses. Aminah and Linsey were able to have their pictures taken with all the princesses. It was so much fun for them. I will post the slide show. Have a great New Year!